Post by: NRevolutionR on July 22, 2005, 01:28:51 PM
Go Stars!Anyway, I heard from my local news network that 20 of 30 teams will be making the playoffs?
Does anyone know if it is true, or how it will work?
Post by: stevey on July 22, 2005, 01:33:40 PM
Post by: IceCold on July 22, 2005, 09:03:27 PM
All of the other rule changes I can stomach; I don't mind the game as it is - if they feel the incessant need to add penalty shots and widen the goals then so be it. I don't think it's necessary but w/e. And making goalie equipment smaller and stopping obstruction (assuming it's not another empty promise) are actually good rule changes.
But this I cannot accept.
Post by: NRevolutionR on July 23, 2005, 09:51:36 AM
I just can't fathome it.
But maybe it's because that I am a north Texas hockey fan :/
Go Stars
Post by: IceCold on July 23, 2005, 08:06:53 PM
Post by: Ian Sane on July 24, 2005, 08:19:00 PM
Shootouts on the other hand are really stupid because they don't prove squat. All they prove is which goalie is playing better that night. It's not a team effort to win a shootout. It's practically fluke. I don't mind a tie. At least then the two teams played hard through some extra time and were evenly matched enough to draw. Winning a game on a shootout is a hollow victory. I've seen enough Olympic medals lost due to stupid shootouts. At least they won't use that in the playoffs. I will turn the NHL off forever the day I see the Stanley Cup be awarded by shootout.
I like how they're ditching the red line. It's wasn't so bad before since I watch an offensive team like the Canucks but while watching some playoff games between other teams it was like nothing but offside calls.
Post by: Guitar Smasher on July 24, 2005, 09:22:12 PM
Post by: nickmitch on July 25, 2005, 08:37:44 AM
Post by: Nile Boogie on July 25, 2005, 09:14:13 AM
Post by: IceCold on July 25, 2005, 02:56:38 PM
QuoteUh, not really. They made the Conference Finals last time but lost in the final game to the Lightning (eventual Cup winner)
Originally posted by: Nile Boogie
Hockey is that sport that the Philadelphia Flyers suck at playing, right?
Post by: Ian Sane on July 25, 2005, 03:03:43 PM
Post by: IceCold on July 25, 2005, 03:54:28 PM
I can dream, can't I?
Post by: nickmitch on July 25, 2005, 07:11:43 PM
Post by: Ian Sane on July 26, 2005, 07:19:03 AM
CBC needs to realize that the only reason Toronto gets cheered over the home team in other Canadian cities is because people who moved from Ontario are at the game. I've never met anyone born in BC, Alberta or Quebec who doesn't hate the Leafs with a passion.
Post by: couchmonkey on July 26, 2005, 01:47:30 PM
I don't like shootouts either, I see no problem with the current system, though maybe they think shootouts are more climactic. 20 teams in the cup seems silly but I can probably live with it, depends on how it's implemented.
Post by: Ian Sane on August 03, 2005, 07:39:01 AM
The signing frenzy has been really neat with all sorts of teams you wouldn't normally expect like Florida and Edmonton signing big names. It looks like every team is going to have some big stars and almost all of them are starting to look like playoff contenders. The way things are going 20 teams in the playoffs will be no big deal because all the teams will be pretty good.
Post by: IceCold on August 03, 2005, 09:01:55 AM
I was going to post it yesterday when I heard it on TSN, but it was still a rumour, albeit one that was most probably true. Then I log on today, and I see that you've done it already (damn time difference)
Anyway, yea this is great news - now they have to concentrate on signing the RFAs; it won't be too hard - I don't think any of them will provide any difficulty. And Bertuzzi will be back, if not at the beginning of the season, then only a few games in. The NHL is not in a position to suspend him for a long period; it's the end of a lockout and they know he is a money making player. So it might be a token suspension of 7 days or w/e, but not too long.
Pronger signed in Edmonton?!? WOW! I guess what Bettman has been advertising is actually true; the small market teams have a much better chance of keeping stars now. Also, Modano looks like he's going to sign back to Dallas - I really thought he would move.
Anyway, I can't keep up with this frenzy; I'll really have to look hard at the rosters once the dust settles.
EDIT:
Iginla re-signs with Flames - 3yrs, $20M (surprised they got him for less than maximum - guess he wanted to stay here - w/e)
Kovalev re-signs with Canadiens - 4 yrs, $18M (WOW what a waste! His playoff performance will NOT happen again, and 4 years????)
Penguins sign Sergei Gonchar - 5 yrs, $25M (Damn - the Penguins are going to tear it up this season)
More big signings on the way
Post by: Ian Sane on August 03, 2005, 09:37:56 AM
Time difference? What are you in Hawaii or something?
Post by: vudu on August 03, 2005, 10:10:26 AM
I don't like hockey.
Post by: Ian Sane on August 03, 2005, 10:15:55 AM
Then why are you here?
Post by: IceCold on August 03, 2005, 11:11:19 AM
Anyway, I meant that you beat me to it this morning because you are 1 hour behind. Which doesn't make ANY sense at all, because then I should have posted it first today because of the time difference. Yes...
Post by: Ian Sane on August 03, 2005, 12:15:48 PM
That's what I was thinking. I thought maybe you were on vacation or something.
I did have one advantage though in that the local radio stations were all talking about it so I didn't have to look at TSN to find out.
According to Sportsnet Vancouver traded away Sopel. With him and Malik out that leaves some more cap room and need of defensemen. There is a certain unrectricted d-man that would take up some cap room that's is talking with Vancouver as well as some other teams.
Personally I'm glad to be rid of Sopel. The only time he ever did anything great was when he was recovering from his own f*ck up. The guy coughed up the puck like a cat with a hairball.
Post by: IceCold on August 03, 2005, 07:54:14 PM
I agree with you fully. He was pretty damn lucky to be paired up with Ohlund, who covered up for him most of the time when he joined the rush without thinking, or gave up the puck time after time, or didn't cover his man well, and the list goes on and on. That was the only reason that he was able to put up some points - he didn't play defense thoroughly at all and he just concentrated on getting the points. Ohlund, on the other hand, even AFTER having to cover up for Sopel, AND playing more minutes and playing on the PK, still managed to rack up nearly the same amount of points. But many people didn't understand this, and they jumped on the Sopel bandwagon because he had a few more points. I tell you, wherever he goes now, I wish him luck, because he won't be able to do what he did anymore, that's for sure.
Post by: Ian Sane on August 03, 2005, 08:14:48 PM
Ohlund is the Canucks' best kept secret. He should be the Vancouver d-man that gets all the attention instead of Jovo. Not that I don't like Jovo but Ohlund is Mr. Dependable. Of all the Canucks he's the one I trust the most to deliver the goods. Everybody has off nights but the only time I see Ohlund have an off night is when the whole damn team has an off night.
According to TSN however Vancouver isn't one of the choices for Neidermeyer anymore so I wonder what they're going to do to fill up their defense. They've lost two d-man I really don't care much about but they still need someone in those slots.
Post by: IceCold on August 03, 2005, 08:36:38 PM
And I just found out that the Bertuzzi decision will be made sometime this week - place your bets here.
I would love to have Niedermayer, but I doubt we'll get him, and this TSN report is probably true. His agent said that he would decide by Thursday; we'll see. The Canucks have, let's see, Ohlund, Jovanovski, Salo, and Bryan Allen (I think he's still there). That's pretty good, but we need just one more solid D man. I wasn't holding my breath for Niedermayer, but I badly wanted either Aucoin (really great, and underrated too) or Gonchar (a bit weak on D) or Foote. Hatcher maybe. But now that all of the really top end defensemen have signed, I don't know. Can you think of another defenseman out there that could come in? That's the only real concern for me.
Cloutier isn't really a concern for me - I thought he was playing really well in last year's playoffs (no easy goals) until he got hurt. He was more composed and didn't let the strategy of crashing the net by the Flames really bother him. I say he should get another chance at the playoffs; let's see what he can do. Do you think another goalie is needed?
Forsberg signed with Philly 2 yrs, 10.7 million - lucky bastards (you should be happy Nile Boogie). First, they got him for a bargain and half. Then they only got him for 2 years - perfect because he isn't growing any younger. The only problem is his injuries. I thought he wanted to play with Naslund, but so much for that.
Post by: Ian Sane on August 04, 2005, 07:16:41 AM
Logically they can't get a better goalie than Cloutier anyway and stay under the cap. With all these recent signings it's becoming clear that in this new NHL each team gets only two high paid stars. The days of buying a better goalie without sacrificing someone else is over. I think the key to good goaltending now will be drafting or trading for hidden gems like Kipper who before going to the Flames was a no-name backup.
Post by: Ian Sane on August 05, 2005, 11:37:43 AM
What's happening with the team? They've lost three core players but haven't signed anyone one new. These aren't really crucial players but without them Vancouver is technically a little bit worse than they were before while Edmonton and Calgary are better. I at least want a lineup as good as it was before.
Post by: IceCold on August 05, 2005, 08:23:20 PM
Niedermayer's gone, but I thought of a defenseman - MARCUS RAGNARSSON! He played for the Flyers and has always been solid, but unnoticed. He's a bit old, but he still has some left in him, and he's Swedish, so he should feel right at home.
Kariya signs; 2yrs/$9M with Nashville. I had heard perpetual rumours since last season that he wanted to be with the Canucks, but if he will perform is really in doubt. I expect he will in fact have a bounce back year (about 70-80 pts) but you really have no way of knowing.
Pavol Demitra signs with Kings (3 yrs/$13.5M). He had 78, 93 and 58 pts respectively the last 3 seasons with St Louis. I really like him - he's quite a scorer.
Ziggy Palffy is still there - he is a great player, but like Forsberg and so many other of the free agents this season, he's getting older and he is injury prone. But last year before he was injured with the Kings he was tearing it up; there's no doubt he has talent.
And Selanne is still free I think - if he's willing to take a bit less I say go for it - he can't do much worse than last season. Lindros can also be got for cheap, but I don't know if he is worth it. The Leafs are thinking about getting him.
And finally, there's Jason Allison - ANOTHER great, freq. injured player. He got 95 pts in 2000/01, then 73 in 2001/02 (in only 72 games). He only played 23 games last season. All of these people are risks, but they may turn out very well if Nonis plays his hands well and gets a bargain.
But those are all forwards - the Canucks might need 1 or 2 role players on offense (especially someone to pair with the Sedins - King isn't ready and Linden can't keep up, and I don't know what happened to Arvedson, whom they were with when they caught fire for about a month last season)
Post by: Ian Sane on August 07, 2005, 01:24:36 PM
So the Canucks are running out of guys to sign. They're still a good team, and they were able to hold their own against the stacked Avalanche lineup before so I'm not worried about missing the playoffs or anything. But some of these other teams are really improving while Vancouver sits on their hands.
Post by: IceCold on August 07, 2005, 07:41:31 PM
EDIT: Peca got traded to Edmonton? Wow; they're really serious, though he hasn't being playing well the past couple of seasons.
Mathieu Schneider re-signed with Detroit. Damn, another good defenseman gone.
Thornton isn't happy at all in Boston for some reason (probably because of last season's playoffs, their "unwillingness to improve" etc) so a trade is definitely possible. He is a RFA too, so I don't know.
I read that after all of the restricted free agents are signed for the Canucks, they will be at about $34-35 million. I'm not expecting a trade for Thornton (especially since there would then be 3 superstars on offense), but a trade for a good defenseman or two, or an above average forward who isn't quite a superstar and could play with the Sedins would be perfect. And it would keep them below the cap.
Post by: Ian Sane on August 08, 2005, 01:00:47 PM
But aside from that the big line is reformed and I can't wait until the season starts. Last year was so boring without the Canucks.
Post by: IceCold on August 10, 2005, 02:15:34 PM
Next; will he be afraid to play aggresive for fear of getting penalties because the refs will be watching him like a hawk for a long time to come. He does take some silly penalties, and those will be called even more. But I don't want him to stop laying out a legal big hit because he's scared. That's his game, and he should stick with it.
The Sedins have been signed - only $1.25M a year apiece - what the hell? I would have thought they would get at least $2M a year, if not more... Anyway, I expect them both to get more than 55-60 pts, and it would really help if they got a solid linemate. Is Arvedson still there? King isn't ready, as I've said before, so maybe a signing or a trade is necessary to help them succeed this season - there's still room in the cap.
I can think of only Selanne and Ragnarsson still left, but there might be a few more notables.
Oh, and Gretzky is going to coach the Coyotes next year - I don't know about this decision. He's so respected and admired for his success as a player, but being a coach is hard. They don't have an exceptional lineup, and they certainly won't be near the top of the league, and he'll be held responsible. After all, Maurice Richard only coached 2 games before he decided he had had enough. But it's his decision.
Post by: Ian Sane on August 10, 2005, 06:51:42 PM
Plus he might as well give it a try. Is Rocket Richard remembered for being a lousy coach or for being one of the greatest players of all time? Wayne could bomb as a coach but that wouldn't take away the records, the trophies, and the Stanley Cup rings. They're not going to unretire his number if Phoenix has a bad year. He'll still be considered the greatest hockey player ever. Coaching is not going to hurt his legend and this way there's a chance that his legend could grow if he becomes a great coach.
The only way Wayne Gretzky could damage his reputation is if he came out of retirement and sucked.
Post by: Ian Sane on August 15, 2005, 11:50:12 AM
Post by: IceCold on August 15, 2005, 07:00:39 PM
Salo agreed to a 2 year deal. Morrison has signed, so has Sedins. Ohlund, however, is going to arbitration. He wants a long term deal; his qualifying offer was 2.28 million. If they can get him for $2.5M over a few years, it's a good deal. Cloutier signed for $2.34M. Bryan Allen signed as well. So the core is intact, but just one or two signings or trades would be nice.
Post by: Ian Sane on August 16, 2005, 08:35:11 PM
Post by: IceCold on August 16, 2005, 09:08:36 PM
I just looked it up - he's a Right Wing, while Daniel Sedin plays Left, and Henrik plays Centre... Maybe he's their new linemate. I would like to see how this plays out, and if they can play well together.
And yea, if the case is that either Ruutu or Cooke should be traded, Jarkko better get ready to pack.
Lecavalier signed a huge extension; 4 yrs $27.5M... Cujo goes to Phoenix - I think he's well past his prime now and won't really have much of an impact. And Alexander Mogilny went to New Jersey - another veteran who isn't at his best.
So, with everything basically wrapped up barring a trade and Ohlund's contract, we'll see what happens this season.
Post by: IceCold on August 23, 2005, 04:35:54 PM
And this is a shocker. Danny Heatley awas traded to the Ottawa Senators for Marain Hossa and Greg de Vries! I would never have seen this coming. Firstly, the Senators said that they were done with signings and trades, but then they do this?? THeir best goalscorer and a solid defensemen. Yet Hossa is getting old, and Heatle is on the rise if he can bounce back fully. It's a risk for both sides, because Heatley and Kovalchuk would have been the best duo of young players on any team. I don't know who will win from this deal in the end, guess we'll find out
Post by: Ian Sane on August 23, 2005, 05:42:07 PM
Hossa's a great player but then Lalime was a great goalie but Ottawa felt he wasn't delivering in the playoffs so they got Hasek. This is the same thing as Hossa also hasn't delivered in the playoffs. Heatley is a comparable scorer but unlike Hossa he's not a pussy. He's willing to be more physical. But Hossa didn't kill his team mate in a car accident. Heatley hasn't fully recovered from that tragedy. He's younger though so I think it's worth a shot and the change of scenery will probably help him recover.
Either way Ottawa is a cup contender and I could see them and Philly in the Eastern Finals.
Post by: IceCold on August 24, 2005, 01:56:53 PM
Martin St Louis signed a long term deal - 6 yrs, $31.5M. Thats about $1.75 million a year less than what Lecavalier got (probably because he went for 6 years, and Lecavalier is bigger, more physical and probably will have a better future). I seriously doubt he'll get 93 pts again - realistically about 70-80 at most. The Lightning, though, are still in big trouble even after these signings. They don't have a proven goalie.
Post by: IceCold on August 24, 2005, 01:57:55 PM
It's a different type of fantasy game, as there is no trade and everyone can have the same player. But you have a $30 million cap, and they set how much each player is worth. The players collect points based on goals, assists, penalty minutes, +/- ratio (negative pts for minus) , shots on goal etc. Goalies get points based on wins, shots saved, and get points off for penalty minutes and goals allowed.
Overall, this points system is great - it really shows who is doing best statistically and doesn't favour offensive defensemen as much as other pools, because a lot of pts are taken off for being negative in +/- ratio. So the players collect their pts over the season, and their value goes up or down.
How much a player is worth is an ingenious system. It works like the stock market; if the player is bought by many people, then his value goes up. If he is sold, his value goes down. And you only have 2 trades per week to buy/sell players. So lets say someone is $5 million. He plays badly for a week, so people drop him. His value goes down to $3 million. If people see that his value is going down, they are likely to drop him too, so his value goes even lower. So, then YOU buy him when he is down at the bottom of the barrel. Remember, he's a good player, but just going through a slump. It's at this times where you need to know the inside information - who his team is playing next, whether he has a chance to get out of slump etc. And if the player is injured then his price is fixed. So you also have to know before anyone else when someone is injured, and things like that. On top of this all, you have to conserve your trades, because if you have none and someone gets injured, you're screwed.
Oh sh!t, this was waaay too long of a post. But what I am trying to say is that if you're interested in joining a fantasy hockey game, then that's definitely one of the more fun ones.
Post by: Ian Sane on August 24, 2005, 02:24:46 PM
I'm hoping that the people in my office will want to do a hockey pool this year. We did one last season and it was pretty popular. We keep it simple though. We're allowed so many players, one goalie and a minimum amount of d-men. Then we just tally up points. In the case of the goalie a win is worth 1 point and a shutout is worth an addition 5. You get 5 trades or so for the year and you have pay $2 for each one. There's no draft: anyone can pick anyone. It worked pretty well though at the end I was stuck in fourth because I had too good of a team to go down but the people above me had Brodeur as their goalie and their shutout points shut me out. I'm suggesting we revise the goalie rule because it really unbalanced things the way we had it. In the end my other picks (and I made REALLY good picks for forwards) were nullified just becaues I picked the wrong goalie. I'm going to suggest only like 2 extra points for a shutout because the pool just turned into "pick a goalie" and this time EVERYONE will pick Brodeur if we keep things as is.
We could have a more complex pool but the idea was to get as many people involved as possible and if we went with +/- and stuff like that only like three people from work would go in it.
Post by: Ian Sane on August 24, 2005, 02:56:49 PM
"'There's room to sign Matt [Cooke],' said Nonis. 'Matt is due for a very good pay raise and he will get one.'"
THANK GOD.
Post by: Ian Sane on September 01, 2005, 11:38:58 AM
He's not going to get more money some place else either so he should just accept what the Canucks are offering and leave it at that. Plus now that there's a cap, teams aren't going to be offering inflated contracts to guys anymore. The cap is going to shrink next year and teams are going to start taking players who don't deliver to arbitration. There are limited dollars now and every player is going for as much as he can. So when someone offers you some fair change you take it because if you're not an all-star "name" player teams aren't going to make room for you. And timing matters now too. If you wait too long you're going to get peanuts. We're already seeing some major players signing for what before would be considered low salaries for their talent.
Post by: IceCold on September 01, 2005, 05:31:59 PM
QuoteNow that Ruutu has signed for 600k (that's it isn't it?) and Brent Johnson (terms not disclosed but he earned $1.1M last year, and with the rollback and cap and lack of cap room, I doubt he got more than 600K.
Vancouver $37.5 million. Canucks have to re-sign Matt Cooke and Jarkko Ruutu. Not much space for Vancouver, trades will be coming
Johnson's a great pick as back up - reliable but not a star - like Mathieu Garon from Montreal. He got 34 wins with the blues in 2001-2002, but hasn't done anything since then. So he'll relieve Cloutier and keep him on his toes. But Alex Auld wasn't really bad or anything, and he could have served as a backup. And this takes up valuable space.
If they hadn't signed Johnson, then there would be 900K left. That would be a fair deal for Cooke - he deserves a bit more but that's fair. But now that this has happened, there's no telling what will happen. Maybe those numbers are wrong, and they could squeeze him in with a just deal, but we'll see. More likely trades will happen, either including him or other players. Either way, the team will change. Maybe a sign-and-trade deal.
Also, I heard on the radio that Nonis doesn't want the payroll to be anything over $38 million at all so that he has $1M leeway throughout the season. Obviously right now barring some trades that's not going to happen, but I heard him say that.
Post by: Ian Sane on September 02, 2005, 07:39:37 AM
Post by: Ian Sane on September 21, 2005, 08:21:36 PM
The Canucks will probably be fine but you know some team is going to just miss the playoffs and realistically if it weren't for this shootout bullsh!t they would have made it. One undeserved point for another team could change everything. You're deciding the outcome of a TEAM SPORT with one-on-one play. Only American businessmen who don't know sh!t about hockey would ever think this is a good idea. This is like when Ubisoft redesigned Prince of Persia to appeal to the people who DIDN'T buy the first game. The NHL should stop looking at who isn't a hockey fan and work on pleasing who IS.
Canucks signed Cooke too which I'm quite happy about. He's overpaid as hell though so he better really bust his ass.
Apparently the crackdown on obstruction has made the pre-season games giant powerplays. I can live with that temporarily though if it cuts down on all the trap junk.
Post by: IceCold on September 21, 2005, 10:13:15 PM
The scoring is definitely bloated, but you're right, they NEED to cut down obstruction, and if constant power plays until the players learn are the solution, then that's fine. And after all, it is the pre-season - I'm waiting until the regular season begins to see how everything will work out.
About the shootout, yeah there will be a total of 3 pts handed out in the game instead of two, and it could definitely be unbalanced by the end of the season. Let's see how the standings go, and if a bubble team would have got in under the old system.
There's one thing I don't get. I was watching the highlights of the Penguins-Bruins game, and Boston won it in OT, but they STILL had the shootout? Do you know why this happened? Maybe just to show the fans how it would work and to give them a show becaus it is pre-season, but I'm not sure about this.
Post by: couchmonkey on September 22, 2005, 06:19:23 AM
Post by: Ian Sane on September 22, 2005, 07:47:55 AM
That's exactly why. They want to demonstrate the concept to the fans so every pre-season game regardless of outcome is going to have a shoot out.
I was watching the highlights of that Penguins-Bruins and Crosby was looking pretty cool. Plus I saw someone pass the puck to him across the red line and it set up a scoring chance. YES! It's about time they allowed guys to break out like that. Seeing that long pass was beautiful.
Maybe now when the Wild play the Canucks I won't be so damn frustrated by their "get ahead one point and then play 'keep away' with the puck" routine. Of course then I'll miss when the Canucks would tie the game up and the Wild would get all panicky because they were always so defence focused that they never tried to increase their lead.
Post by: Ian Sane on September 30, 2005, 11:45:28 AM
I think it's stupid. The reason soccer goalies have different jerseys is so the ref can tell them apart from the other players. Otherwise they would look the same and since the goalie can use his hands and no one else can that's important. Hockey goalies already look different because of the equipment so there's no need for a difference. Plus if these jerseys feel and fit differently then the goalies have to get used to them so switching to them at the last minute is going to affect how they play. Plus personally I think it just looks stupid. Everyone's on the same team so everyone should wear the same uniform. And there are already so many changes this year. How about they see how these other changes are doing before making more? The NHL should stop turning the league into a farce to try to sell tickets to people in Phoenix and Carolina and start focusing more on those who actually care about hockey.
It's like if the Canucks win the Stanley Cup this year there'll be an asterisk next to it in the record book reading "cup obtained playing bastardized sport kind of similar to hockey."
Post by: Guitar Smasher on October 01, 2005, 03:17:39 PM
I don't think we have to worry about that.
Post by: IceCold on October 06, 2005, 08:58:27 PM
QuoteWhat the hell? Now the NHL would just be making change for the sake of it.
TSN is running a story about new special goalie jerseys, kind of like the ones soccer goalies wear. Apparently the JERSEY was stopping too many goals or something and the new jerseys have to look different in order to work correctly. Of course this is all bullsh!t. The real reason for new jerseys is the same reason why last season they switched the white uniform to be the away jersey: to sell more merchandise. They already have three jerseys per team plus vintage jerseys where applicable and now goaley jerseys which I assume will come in at least three variations as well.
I saw a total of 14 minutes of the Vancouver game. Because of the damn regional coverage, I couldn't catch the full Leafs or Nucks game. I actually really enjoyed the Edmonton game though. Seeing the great long passes did my heart good...didn't see much of it in the Flames game because of their dump and chase style. It was obvious that the refs were making a point to prove to everyone that the crackdown is for real, and I think that they blew the whistle a bit too often, but they need to make a statement, so I understood the reasoning.
Did you get a chance to watch the Vancouver game? I saw bits and pieces of it - mostly after our period had ended and they joined the VAN game until the end of the period. From what I saw and heard (listened to parts of it online), Cloutier was sharp and didn't look rusty at all. I saw some great saves and he seemed composed. The 6 on 4 goal at the end can hardly be blamed on him, and I'm hoping that he stays in this mindset for the future. I really couldn't tell how everyone else was playing because of limited time watching, but i saw the highlights, and the Bertuzzi-Naslund connection was beautiful.
Good start, but it was against Phoenix, so I'm waiting for a stronger opponent AND a chance to see the full game before I can really evaluate them
Post by: Ian Sane on October 07, 2005, 07:25:54 AM
Vancouver played pretty well and it was a fun game to watch. The lack of the red line really helps. Plus Vancouver adjusted to the new rules very well. They didn't have that many penalities. No more than usual at least. It certainly wasn't like the pre-season games. Cloutier played well. For the first goal on him the guy was wide open so I'm not going to get mad at Dan for that.
The Toronto/Ottawa game was pretty fun too. Not nearly as many whistles blown and lots of back and forth action. The crackdown on obstruction and the removal of the red line were really good ideas.
Post by: MrAustin on October 16, 2005, 08:03:13 PM
God bless this great game of hockey, and thank God it's back.
