Cimon Posted September 28, 2007 Share Posted September 28, 2007 http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=219333&hubname= Downie apologizes to McAmmond, he accepts, but McGratton isn't done with the incedent. McGratton tells it like it is, I actually like what he's saying, he's giving the kid and the team a fair warning, and in doing so opening himself up to a lot of punishment from the Flyers, ballsy move in my opinion. Also, if he does do something to Downie the NHL will likely slap a suspension on him for it being pre-meditated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tb0ne Posted September 28, 2007 Share Posted September 28, 2007 The Northeast. Good points for the most part; can I change my answer? I was being lazy and picked the division that was better than the NW from top to bottom last year. 4 of 6 NW teams made the playoffs, and Colorado (which missed by one point) was definatly as step above Montreal or Toronto. Boston was terrible, and Edmonton was actually pretty good until their rash of injuries that made them fall off from playoff contention. When Lowe traded Symth at the deadline, they almost every game for the reast of the season. Nope, not anymore. Atlantic division is tougher. Northeast still has Ottawa... but Buffalo just took a stomach punch, Toronto and Montreal aren't that, and Boston is dire. The Atlantic, on the other hand, sports the Rangers, Penguins, and Devils... all extremely strong teams; and the Islanders are OK (especially when DiPietro is playing well), and the Flyers could actually be decent this year. Definitely the toughest division. The Atlantic and NW look pretty even, but my money's on the NW.. You'll get no arguments from me about the Penguins as it wouldn't suprise me if they finish first overall in the regular season. As for the Rangers, it seems that they have made much wiser choices for their UFA spending spree than they have in the past, but there's always a danger they could pull the same shit as other star-laden Rangers teams of the past. The Devils hardly look better than last season, except maybe in the coaching department. They lost Gomez, Rafalski, and Lukowich to free agency while attempting to replace them with Zubrus and Vishnevski who could hardly be considered upgrades. On the other hand I guess Parise and Zajac could take their games to another level, so it's hard to say at this point.. The Islanders lost Blake, Hill, Kozlov, Smyth, Yashin, and Zednik (who actually looked better than Yashin in the playoffs). They replaced them with Guerin, Comrie, Sutton, Sim, Fedotenko and Johnson. Are those players an upgrade? maybe, but they would still be a step below Colorado, Vancouver, Calgary, and Minnesota. Philadelphia is definatly the wildcard, but their team is so young (2/3 of 6 defensemen are practically rookies) that it's hard to rate them above the NW's top 4 before the season starts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habber Posted September 28, 2007 Author Share Posted September 28, 2007 Tb0ne, You don't like my analysis of the NW eh? Haha. Well you may have a point but I think the Atlantic and maybe even the Pacific may have stronger divisions. The only reason I don't consider the NW to be at the top is I don't consider any one of the teams as legitimate Stanley Cup contenders. New York, Pittsburgh, Anaheim and San Jose I do consider Stanley contenders so therefore I rate them higher. Don't get me wrong, I think 4 of the teams are decent quality, but I don't feel like any of them have enough talent/coaching to make it to the next step. Edmonton sucks, Calgary can't gel anything with all that talent(this may change with Keenen), Minny is still stuck with expansion talent plus Gaborik/Demitra, Vancouver can't win every game 1-0, and Colorado doesn't have the proven goaltending. And who's this 6th team you have in the NW? All the divisions have 5 teams. LoB, And Toskala is good? I don't know. He got shelled for 7 in a preseason game a couple nights ago. I would like to see him have to play a full schedule instead of backup duty which always makes goalies look better. He's just Raycroft #2. Then again, having 2 Raycrofts will help the team rather than 1 Raycroft and an Aubin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biter Posted September 28, 2007 Share Posted September 28, 2007 Well, I just found out I made my first moronic statement of the season with my last post. NW division will be a tough division - Edmonton is the only team that won't be a playoff contender - while I was thinking of the Central Division. That's right, I had Colorado confused with Detroit. And, like someone here has already stated, Chicago just won't be that good this season. To that you can add that Columbus has never made the playoffs and that Nashville has lost some key players. St. Louis might be able to get into the playoffs, but I wouldn't bet on it. The Atlantic Division will definitely be interesting this season. The Penguins have talent up the wazoo and The Rangers have a solid team. Sure, the Devils roster doesn't look too impressive, but in a world where Brodeur plays more than 70 regular season games with a save percentage that is higher than .910 (which he has done the last four seasons), it would be unwise to totally disregard that team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheHoundRules Posted September 28, 2007 Share Posted September 28, 2007 Well, four rookies for the Thrashers made the team......Little, Sterling, Enstrom, and Popovic. Hartley is high on all of them. If we can get some solid play from them, and not to many rookie mistakes, I like our chances of repeating as division winners. I think the Rangers, Pittsburgh, and Ottawa are the top teams in the Eastern Conference at this time. I think Buffalo is going to be better then a lot of people think. They were balanced and had many good players. They lost some, but still have talent on that team. I think the Devils take a big step back this year. They lost to much. They have Brodeur, but they can not ride him every night. He is getting older. Watch out for the Flyers. They are my sleeper pick. They made some good moves late last year and got some yound talent. As for the toughest division, it has to be the NW. They are going to beat each other up. Edmonton is the only really weak team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wedge Posted September 28, 2007 Share Posted September 28, 2007 Can someone give me a decent summary of how the Blues might do this year after their decent into the pit two seasons ago and the semi-rebirth under Murray late last year? What I wouldn't give to see the Cup hoisted in St. Louis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caliban Posted September 28, 2007 Share Posted September 28, 2007 The St. Losers suck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wedge Posted September 28, 2007 Share Posted September 28, 2007 The St. Losers suck. That's the analysis I was looking for! But I guess it's better than wishing my owner would die because he killed hockey in one of the greatest markets there was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matrim Fox Cauthon Posted September 28, 2007 Share Posted September 28, 2007 So according to TSN, Downie is getting a 20-game suspension for his hit on McAmmond. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faceless Man of Braavos Posted September 28, 2007 Share Posted September 28, 2007 The natives are restless here in Van-city... the Canucks offence is very dependant on Markus Naslund regaining his 40+ goal scoring abilities. So far, he hasn't impressed in the pre-season. But there is LUONGO... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habber Posted September 29, 2007 Author Share Posted September 29, 2007 Good on the NHL for the 20 game suspension. How will it work if he was going to be sent to the AHL anyways though? He may not be able to play in the first 20 games, yes, but was he going to play in them anyways? It's a tough position to be able to punish him, so I imagine that's why they made it so long. It's time they did something about these "clean" hits that are headshots. Concussions arn't neat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snake Posted September 29, 2007 Share Posted September 29, 2007 From what I've read he's suspended for 20 NHL games and that's whenever or if ever he makes the big leagues. Also, he might get a suspension in the AHL as well. They're looking into that and I think it's a strong possibility that he may be suspended there as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VikingBeard Posted September 29, 2007 Share Posted September 29, 2007 First game of the year starts in 20 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord O' Bones Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 My buddy and I lucked into a pair of Ronnie Lott's Sharks tickets for their final pre-season game against Calgary. It was awesome sitting there in a luxury suite, lording over all of the plebes in the lower bowl. Top three moments: 3. Realizing with some horror that I had to take a crap (which I think we can all agree is a sporting event "Avoid at all cost!") then realizing that we had our own private bathroom. 2. Racing out the door at first intermission and feeling awesome about being first in the beer line. For a minute. We came back into the box with our drinks and one of the rich-as-all-hell guys in there with us gave us a strange look, then walked over to the fridge and pulled out two beers. 3. My buddy is wearing a Nabokov jersey from his team in Russia. Super-rich-as-fuck-business-guy: Who's jersey is that? My buddy: It's a Nabokov jersey from the team he played for in Russia during the lock-out. SRAFBG: Oh. Who's he play for now? My buddy: Me: This conversation took place during the second intermission of a game with Nabby in the net. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLU-RAY Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 My buddy and I lucked into a pair of Ronnie Lott's Sharks tickets for their final pre-season game against Calgary. It was awesome sitting there in a luxury suite, lording over all of the plebes in the lower bowl. Top three moments: 3. Realizing with some horror that I had to take a crap (which I think we can all agree is a sporting event "Avoid at all cost!") then realizing that we had our own private bathroom. 2. Racing out the door at first intermission and feeling awesome about being first in the beer line. For a minute. We came back into the box with our drinks and one of the rich-as-all-hell guys in there with us gave us a strange look, then walked over to the fridge and pulled out two beers. 3. My buddy is wearing a Nabokov jersey from his team in Russia. Super-rich-as-fuck-business-guy: Who's jersey is that? My buddy: It's a Nabokov jersey from the team he played for in Russia during the lock-out. SRAFBG: Oh. Who's he play for now? My buddy: Me: This conversation took place during the second intermission of a game with Nabby in the net. Nice. Yeah, I went to a Rangers/Sabres game last year with my Dad, and got to hang out in a corporate box; it's a pretty sweet deal. And it's entertaining to educate everybody else in there about hockey. Plus, it was at the Garden, and it was the game where the Rangers came back from down 2 goals in the 3rd, and pulled Weekes for Lundqvist in the 2nd intermission. The Garden was rocking. Love the Nabokov story, that's awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord O' Bones Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 Plus, it was at the Garden, and it was the game where the Rangers came back from down 2 goals in the 3rd, and pulled Weekes for Lundqvist in the 2nd intermission. The Garden was rocking. Forgot to mention that there were 14,500 people in there for a pre-season game. That was pretty sweet and a continuing middle finger to the people who say hockey doesn't belong here. (The Tank holds about 17,000 or so.) But regular season at the Garden? Dayum. Rocking, no doubt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheHoundRules Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 Well, the NHL season starts finally in North America. I am looking forward to it. For those who do not get many games on tv (people like me living in the south), NHL Center Ice which I get through Dish Network has like the first week free. I think I may watch Toronto vs Ottawa tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caliban Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 Id like to go to Hawks Red Wings on Saturday, but I will be too drunk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VikingBeard Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 Let's go Leafs! Let's kick some Senators ass tonight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLU-RAY Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 Let's go Leafs! Let's kick some Senators ass tonight! Amen, man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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