Random NHL comments/thoughts

[Hongbit]

Waiting until after the last home game to announce the end.  Fitting end for a guy that never wanted any part of the spotlight.  

Edited Monday at 06:04 PM by Hongbit

[lordstanley]

Can’t believe the Flyers are going to the playoffs and the Wings aren’t. Philly was last in the East last year with 76 points and had missed the playoffs the past 5 years. They were 12 points behind Detroit and tied with the Leafs on January 25th. 

[lordstanley]

The 16 NHL playoff teams are set. 

In the East,  4 of the 8 teams are different than last year's playoff teams. Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Boston replace Toronto, Florida, Washington and New Jersey. Of the four that didn't make it either this season or last season, the Wings have missed 10 straight years, the Blue Jackets have missed 6 straight years, and the Rangers and Islanders both have missed 2 straight years. 

In the West, only 2 of the 8 teams are different than last year's playoff teams. Anaheim and Utah are in, Winnipeg and St. Louis are out. 
 

Edited Tuesday at 03:30 PM by lordstanley

[buddha]

2/3 in my preseason bets.

wings to make playoffs.  loss

rangers to miss playoffs.  win!

ducks to make playoffs.  win!

[GalagaGuy]

The NHL should go to the same format the NBA uses to determine the 7 & 8 seeds.   

[lordstanley]

9 hours ago, GalagaGuy said:

The NHL should go to the same format the NBA uses to determine the 7 & 8 seeds.   

The Wings need the NHL to adopt the split-season format like some baseball minor leagues do. Some spots reserved for performance the first half or first two thirds of the season.

[lordstanley]

Bowness sounds even more frustrated with kids today than McLellan. Although as a coach, Bowness is as mediocre as they come, the textbook example of a retread that keeps getting hired by organizations out of ideas. 

 

[lordstanley]

You’re downright cruel, NHL, downright cruel. 

 

[gehringer_2]

40 minutes ago, lordstanley said:

You’re downright cruel, NHL, downright cruel. 

 

That's the kind of play Ras should have made a 100 times in his career by now but hasn't. But Ras is still a Wing and Soderblom isn't. Go figure.

[slothfacekilla]

Both of those defenders should be embarrassed 

[Jason_R]

1 hour ago, gehringer_2 said:

That's the kind of play Ras should have made a 100 times in his career by now but hasn't. But Ras is still a Wing and Soderblom isn't. Go figure.

Not a good look for the Wings. What is the disconnect between front office and coaching staff that has led to some players coming to the Wings looking like duds then leaving and looking like studs?

[slothfacekilla]

Lol Soderblom flashed skill with the Wings, the problem was that he never sustained it.  It seems like the trade actually got him motivated to use his size, but we've seen that before with the Wings when he got called up after playing with Watson in Grand Rapids.  But then eventually he turned back into the same player he always was.  Floating around and not using his size.  Good for him if this trade truly kicked him into gear for the rest of his career and he's now this .5 point per game player he was with Pitt the rest of this season (hardly what I would qualify as stud production  personally).  I'm more interested to see his playing style in a larger sample size when he's settled in after getting dealt.  His underlying possession numbers are still bad, if you have only his Penguins sample it would be the worst of his career.  

We've seen this with guys like Walman, acting like he's some stud because he flashes now and then in another environment.  He got paid and now he was one of the worst defensemen in the league this season.  I think we need to let this one breathe before we start making sweeping indictments on the staff.  I know people are mad but we have to have some context and nuance.

[GalagaGuy]

What made me salty was seeing these stats.

I'm sure you can figure out who this is.  

[slothfacekilla]

Are we going to blame the Wings for Mantha too?  He played for three other teams before the Penguins and turned into basically a journeyman.  His best seasons before this were actually in Detroit!

[GalagaGuy]

19 minutes ago, slothfacekilla said:

Are we going to blame the Wings for Mantha too?  He played for three other teams before the Penguins and turned into basically a journeyman.  His best seasons before this were actually in Detroit!

Not blaming anyone, just hurts to see.  

[slothfacekilla]

That's fair, I shouldn't have put words in your mouth!

1 hour ago, GalagaGuy said:

Not blaming anyone, just hurts to see.  

 

Whoops I can't even quote right!

[GalagaGuy]

53 minutes ago, slothfacekilla said:

That's fair, I shouldn't have put words in your mouth!

 

Whoops I can't even quote right!

No biggie.  

[Jason_R]

3 hours ago, slothfacekilla said:

Lol Soderblom flashed skill with the Wings, the problem was that he never sustained it.  It seems like the trade actually got him motivated to use his size, but we've seen that before with the Wings when he got called up after playing with Watson in Grand Rapids.  But then eventually he turned back into the same player he always was.  Floating around and not using his size.  Good for him if this trade truly kicked him into gear for the rest of his career and he's now this .5 point per game player he was with Pitt the rest of this season (hardly what I would qualify as stud production  personally).  I'm more interested to see his playing style in a larger sample size when he's settled in after getting dealt.  His underlying possession numbers are still bad, if you have only his Penguins sample it would be the worst of his career.  

We've seen this with guys like Walman, acting like he's some stud because he flashes now and then in another environment.  He got paid and now he was one of the worst defensemen in the league this season.  I think we need to let this one breathe before we start making sweeping indictments on the staff.  I know people are mad but we have to have some context and nuance.

I agree Soderblom flashed skill before leaving Detroit, but did he flash passion or energy? That’s what so many of Detroit’s forwards have lacked. And it is possible his performance will fall off, but he’s already put together a stretch of effectiveness that I don’t think he ever had as a Red Wing. 

Mantha is a bit of a different in gone for a while, but still he found another gear playing in Pittsburgh. When did he have 30+ goals and 60+ points before joining the Penguins? Never. When did he get close? Never. Did it take 13 years for him to hit his stride, or is Pittsburgh's coaching or system or environment just better than Detroit’s? Stevie and Todd need to do some soul searching. 

[lordstanley]

 

[Hongbit]

1 hour ago, lordstanley said:

 

Such a dumb, shortsighted move by an organization that doesn’t get it.

Everyone knows it takes a GM at least 10 years to build something. 

[lordstanley]

1 hour ago, Hongbit said:

Such a dumb, shortsighted move by an organization that doesn’t get it.

Everyone knows it takes a GM at least 10 years to build something. 

The Canucks need to hire Roberto Luongo as GM and bring in Kevin Bieksa, Henrik Sedin and Todd Bertuzzi as its drafting & pro scouting team.

[Jason_R]

1 hour ago, Hongbit said:

Such a dumb, shortsighted move by an organization that doesn’t get it.

Everyone knows it takes a GM at least 10 years to build something. 

So let’s say the new guy is told to get EP40 off the books. Is there any circumstance under which it makes sense for Stevie to make a play for him, as was rumored at the trade deadline?
 

As far as I can tell he has 6 years left at $11.6 million, $69.6 total. Assuming he passes a physical and his knee isn’t shot, would you trade for him if the guts of the deal were Vancouver taking Compher and Rasmussen?  If we can unload those contracts, which total almost $17 million still, that brings the net cost of EP40 to $53 million, which is $8.83 million a year. 

assuming his knee checks out, you end up with a player who, even playing on a bad team in a bad situation, has been much more productive than Copp. Maybe in a less bad situation, playing with a bunch of Swedes, and not having the unforgiving eye of the Canadian hockey media on him he might bounce back to a 65 point player. Not great but would have been enough for third or fourth on this year’s team. Put Larkin with DeBrincat on the first line, then Pettersson and Raymond on the second line, maybe with Genborg eventually for some physical presence. 

It could be a disaster so you’d have to make sure Hakan and Lidstrom and all the other Swedes are bought in. But this rebuild is stuck in limbo unless Stevie can pull a rabbit out of his hat. 

[Hongbit]

13 minutes ago, Jason_R said:

So let’s say the new guy is told to get EP40 off the books. Is there any circumstance under which it makes sense for Stevie to make a play for him, as was rumored at the trade deadline?
 

As far as I can tell he has 6 years left at $11.6 million, $69.6 total. Assuming he passes a physical and his knee isn’t shot, would you trade for him if the guts of the deal were Vancouver taking Compher and Rasmussen?  If we can unload those contracts, which total almost $17 million still, that brings the net cost of EP40 to $53 million, which is $8.83 million a year. 

assuming his knee checks out, you end up with a player who, even playing on a bad team in a bad situation, has been much more productive than Copp. Maybe in a less bad situation, playing with a bunch of Swedes, and not having the unforgiving eye of the Canadian hockey media on him he might bounce back to a 65 point player. Not great but would have been enough for third or fourth on this year’s team. Put Larkin with DeBrincat on the first line, then Pettersson and Raymond on the second line, maybe with Genborg eventually for some physical presence. 

It could be a disaster so you’d have to make sure Hakan and Lidstrom and all the other Swedes are bought in. But this rebuild is stuck in limbo unless Stevie can pull a rabbit out of his hat. 

Vancouver would entertain just about anything to shake up their locker room.   Just getting out from that contract would be a win for their new GM.  

I also see Columbus in a similar situation.   Mathieu Olivier is exactly what this team is lacking and needs badly. Mason Marchment also fits the bill very well.  

[Shinzaki]

We'll take that POS Adam Fantilli off their hands...and that Werenski bum.

Realistically...former 1st rd pick Kent Johnson tailed off badly this year...maybe we could get him. I'm sure Ken Daniels would love to have another UM guy to talk about

Edited 30 minutes ago by Shinzaki

[buddha]

2 hours ago, lordstanley said:

The Canucks need to hire Roberto Luongo as GM and bring in Kevin Bieksa, Henrik Sedin and Todd Bertuzzi as its drafting & pro scouting team.

that's just silly.  any such arrangement without trevor linden is meaningless!