NHL 2011-2012 Thread

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Joel

Joel

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Continuing with the tradition of starting a new NHL thread at the start of free agency, here it is.

I'm hoping Montreal can sign Jagr (pipe dream) and Ville Leino, and perhaps somebody who can actually play D. There's too many third pairing guys on the team, and they let Hamrlik walk to sign Hal Gill (colossal mistake).
 
I was really hoping Jagr was being sincere about wanting to come back to the Penguins... but oh well. Finally locked down Kennedy, but I'm gonna be sad if Talbot ends up elsewhere.
 
http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=370719

Uh oh. Capitals signed Vokoun, I consider Vokoun to be a top 5 goalie in the league, and one of the most under rated too. That, along with Hamrlik's signing has definitely made them a better team. I'm still pissed the Canadiens couldn't give Hamrlik 7M/2yrs. They're going to sign :censored:ing Josh Gorges and expect him to be a top 4 D.
 
Quite happy with the Commador signing. I actually rate the big guy. Hopefully he hits a good game when the season starts.
 
The Panthers have been quite active, Jovanovski, Bergenheim, Fleishmann, Versteeg, wow. Jovanovski's over the hill, but still has some skill to add, but the other three are good, young players signed to reasonable contracts (for a 64M cap).

As for Montreal, I'm really really happy with Erik Cole's signing. He's going to be a great fit. You know, for how much flack the Canadiens take for having small forwards, they really have injected some size into the top 9.

Cammalleri-Plekanec-Cole

Pacioretty-Gomez-Gionta

Kostitsyn-Eller-Moen/Darche

The only "smurfs" are Cammalleri who's skilled enough to make up for it, and Gionta who plays much bigger than 5'7". The (projected) 3rd line in particular will be exciting, Moen, Darche, Eller, and AK are all strong forwards who can power to the net.
 
In all honesty did not see this coming at all, hope the trade works well for both teams. Have a feeling that the Wild got the better deal.
 
Hmm, Havlat's pretty quick though, and I think he's under rated. I think it's closer than it's being made out to be.
 
I guess if you look at it. Heater only had 26 goals in normal season and 3 in the play-offs...
 
I don't think this is one with a clear winner and loser, at least not yet. Heatley will bring some serious scoring punch to the Wild, particularly if he plays with Mikko Koivu. And Havlat will bring some speed that was lacking to their top 6, and he's better defensively.
 
BRETT LEBDA IS GONE! I really don't think much of Franson, but no matter what he's better than Lebda. I would have been happy with Brett Lebda for future considerations honestly. Also, if Lombardi ever ends up getting healthy, he'd be a nice bonus in the deal as a solid 3C.

I really like the Connolly pickup, the dude can pass and he's great with the puck in one-on-one situations, plus with their cap room, and 2 year 4.75M contract isn't bad...christ somebody overpaid that for Bergenheim even.

So far I like every move by BB save from his absolutely terrible draft.
 
I think Connolly will work out really well for you guys. And the two year deal is perfect. I think Burke's strategy is to sign him as a stop gap to see how Kadri and Colborne develop, and to give them some time to do so.
 
Max Powers
2 year 4.75M contract isn't bad...christ somebody overpaid that for Bergenheim even.
Click to expand...

Kesler makes 5.0M next year. Right now he may be the best steal in the entire league.
 
CMvan46
Kesler makes 5.0M next year. Right now he may be the best steal in the entire league.
Click to expand...

Tomas Plekanec makes 5M and he's the exact same player. Kesler is over rated (he's still a great player), but he's made out like he's the best two way forward in the league forever and ever, when Tomas Plekanec with Montreal is pretty much the exact same player. Switch Plekanec and Kesler, they'd have about the same points, Kesler a few more goals, Plekanec a few more assists. They're both great two way players, Kesler's a tad more physical, but Plekanec's better positionally IMO.

The only facet of the game I'd say Kesler is flat out much better in, is faceoffs. Plekanec isn't stellar on faceoffs. The thing is, Kesler's the good ol' American boy, and he's a good quote in the media. Plekanec's from Kladno, Czech Republic, and the North American hockey media is biased against European players. Think about this next season. Say a player like Toews or Crosby has a 10 game stretch with no points. They'd be "snake bitten", or "Can't find the bounces", but if Alex Semin were to go 10 games with no goals, he's "just another lazy Russian".

Just as an aside, if Montreal traded Plekanec for Kesler straight up, I'd rather have Kesler, just because he's slightly more physical, bigger, and better on faceoffs. But otherwise, they're so close it's almost a wash IMO.
 
Please don't compare them. Not even close. Kesler is a much more physical player which is an entire element he doesn't have. Like you said Kesler is better on face-offs and also Kesler can play in literally any situation. Need a goal? He is out there. Face-off win...penalty kill, power play, checking roll....anything.
Did you see how trapped Heatley and Thornton were the entire series with Kesler as a direct match up.

Kesler had 41 goals this season...41! Nowhere else in the league do you get 40 for 5 million. For god sales Connelly got 4.75!

Nowhere else in the league do you get two 100 point players for the Sedin's price either though.

I do feel for Toronto fans with Burke :)
 
CMvan46
Please don't compare them. Not even close.
Click to expand...

Kesler's the better player, sure. But it's a lot closer than you're making it.

Kesler shut down Heatley and Thornton, sure. But Plekanec shut down Crosby and Malkin the year before. They're both premier two way players, Kesler's a better goal scorer, but I'd wager Plekanec is faster and a better passer.

If I could have Kesler with the Canadiens instead of Plekanec, I'd make that trade for sure, but I don't think it would make much of a difference at all. Kesler would run into the same problems Plekanec had last season with the Canadiens, which is being the only good centre on the team. Scott Gomez sucked so hard last year, opposing teams didn't even bother putting their good checkers out against him, and the Plekanec line got the best defensive players from other teams. Kesler played on the second line, and opposing teams had to play their best checkers against the Sedins, leaving weaker match ups for Kesler.

Again, Kesler's better, but it is really quite close.


_________________________________

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=372268

Another twist in the Derek Boogaard story, his brother Aaron sold him the drugs he was on when he died.
 
The Jets unveiled their new logo earlier this evening and I must say, it's pretty dang spiffy. I can't wait to see the uniforms.

110722_logos_news.jpg
 
Wow, the jets logos look great! I'm assuming the one that looks like the RCAF logo (the one on the left), and "Winnipeg Jets" will be on the front of the jersey, and the "Wings" are probably shoulder patches?
 
Pretty cool logos. I do miss the originals but if we need something new those are pretty cool. They are tribute to the Canadian Air Force as you said, heard that on the radio today.
 
Speedy Samurai
I think it looks terrible.
Click to expand...

👍 what he said!


Anyways, anybody see Burns' contract extension? Daaayum, now that's a m,ega-deal. The sharks mean business this year, hoping my Wings can finally beat them in the play-offs this year though. (if we make it. :lol:)
 
Wade Belak found dead in a Toronto hotel today. No foul play suspected. By all accounts a good and easy going guy.

3 NHL tough guys in one summer.....somethings not right with that.
 
And it just gets worse. Not NHL related specifically, but a jet carrying the KHL team, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, crashed, killing the entire roster except for one player (Alexander Galimov), and a crew member, who suffered "grave" injuries.

Among the killed passengers was Canadian coach Brad McCrimmon, Pavol Demitra, Ruslan Salei, and the rest of the roster. Horrible tragedy, really made me feel sick to my stomach all day.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=375297
 
This should be a good season. I'm hoping the Coyotes do well this season, and Lababera can make up for the loss of Bryzgolof.
 
Off to a good start so far.

Penguins looked pretty good the other night in Vancouver. Shouldn't have gone to overtime if Fleury hadn't knocked that first goal in on himself! Overall enjoyable game to watch, and I was glad to see Matt Cooke doing well without any stupid hits. A PP and a SH goal for him so I hope he can keep that up and stay out of trouble this season.

Excited to see how the Caps do tonight since it was kinda hard to get a real feel for the starters during the preseason.

I'm so glad hockey is back. I've already gotten sick of the WWE style drama that the NFL and ESPN seem to love these days.
 

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