General Hockey Thread v3.0

[24champ]

Originally Posted by Tredici

Criminy, it isn't rocket science. Outside of lowering travel costs this format isn't working. I'm real sure the Western teams are concerned about their fan base getting to see Ovechkin and Crosby. They are probably more concerned their equally talented rookies are getting no mentions because they aren't being featured in games on the all mighty east coast.

The other problem is strong divisions where really good teams just end up knocking other really good teams out of the playoff picture.

Bettman is just clueless.

Yeah I agree with that. I heard in the All-Star telecast on Versus that Bettman said he may not go back to the old scheduling but rather "tweaking" the current schedule. I mean I'm watching a good all-star game and then I hear this little pip-squeak yapping and he leaves me scratching my head.

[Pendejo]

Originally Posted by 24champbailey

Yeah I agree with that. I heard in the All-Star telecast on Versus that Bettman said he may not go back to the old scheduling but rather "tweaking" the current schedule. I mean I'm watching a good all-star game and then I hear this little pip-squeak yapping and he leaves me scratching my head.

There are rumors that the next move is going to be realigning the divisions.

[Clockwork Orange]

For a league that is so reliant on ticket sales, it seems that the decision makers are doing all they can to make sure that people don't shell out their cash to go to games. I'm sorry, but given a choice between a chance to watch superstars that they rarely get to see or their 19th game of the season against (insert divisional opponent that they're bored to death with here), people are much more likely to pay for option A.

I'm glad I got out to Pepsi Center to watch Ovechkin and the Caps this year. If the NHL has it's way, I won't get a chance to do that again until AO is having his farewell season.

[24champ]

Originally Posted by Pendejo

There are rumors that the next move is going to be realigning the divisions.

I thought those rumors were shot down last week or so?

Teams "overwhelmingly" like the structure of two conferences with three divisions each.

"There are some clubs -- Minnesota and Dallas that play most of their division games in other time zones -- in an ideal would that would like to see an adjustment. Based on geography, there's no way of doing that," Bettman said.

-- There are no expansion plans. The commissioner said the league is "focused on 30 healthy teams right now, focusing on the teams where they are."

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news;_yl...v=ap&type=lgns

So far so good if you ask me but money talks and there are a couple billionaires out there seeking to bring a hockey team to Hartford, CT and to Canada like Hamilton, Quebec, Winnepeg etc. Not to mention Kansas City has an arena ready for an NHL team, so who knows? That said I wouldn't be suprised if an expansion happened in the next 5 years.

[24champ]

Freind of mine tells me that the Kings have notified Patrick O'sullivan tonight that he will join the Kings in Vancouver on friday.

[Bronx33]

Most goals, both teams, one game - 26, North America 14, World 12, 2001, at Denver.

Fewest goals, both teams, one game - 2, NHL All-Stars 1, Montreal Canadiens 1, 1956 at Montreal; First Team All-Stars 1, Second Team All-Stars 1, 1952 at Detroit.

Most goals, one team, one game - 16, Wales 16, Campbell 6, 1993 at Montreal.

Fewest goals, one team, one game - 0, NHL All-Stars vs. Montreal, 1967 at Montreal.

Most shots, both teams, one game (since 1955) - 102, East 9 (56 shots), West 8 (46 shots), 1994 at New York.

Most shots, one team, one game (since 1955): 56, East, 1994 at New York.

Fewest shots, both teams, one game (since 1955) - 52, Wales 3 (40 shots), Campbell 2 (12 shots), 1978 at Buffalo.

Fewest shots, one team, one game (since 1955) - 12, Campbell (2 goals), 1978 at Buffalo.

Fastest two goals, both teams, from start of game - 37 seconds, 1970 at St. Louis. Jacques Laperriere of East scored at 20 seconds and Dean Prentice of West scored at 37 seconds. Final: East 4, West 1.

Fastest two goals, one team, from start of game - 2:15, World, 1998 at Montreal. Teemu Selanne scored at 0:53 and Jaromir Jagr scored 2:15. Final: North America 8, World 7.

Fastest two goals, one team - 8 seconds, 1997 at San Jose. Owen Nolan scored at 18:54 and at 19:02 of second period for Western. Final: Eastern 11, Western 7.

Fastest two goals, both teams - 8 seconds, Western, 1997 at San Jose. Owen Nolan scored at 18:54 and 19:02 of second period. Final: Eastern 11, Western 7.

Fastest three goals, both teams - :48, Martin Havlat scored at 19:00 of third for West; Sheldon Souray scored at 19:25 of third for East; Dion Phaneuf scored at 19:48 for West, 2007 at Dallas. Final: Western 12, Eastern 9.

<A TARGET="_blank" HREF="http://ad.doubleclick.net/click%3Bh=v8/34e5/3/0/%2a/p%3B70770794%3B0-0%3B0%3B6467436%3B4307-300/250%3B19783632/19801526/1%3B%3B%7Eaopt%3D2/0/ff/0%3B%7Esscs%3D%3fhttp://benchboss.nhl.com/boss_s/display1.asp?gameid=31&page=homepage"><I MG SRC="http://m1.2mdn.net/686080/bb2_300.jpg" BORDER=0></A>

Fastest four goals, both teams - 2:24, 1997 at San Jose. Brendan Shanahan scored at 16:38 of second period for West; Dale Hawerchuk at 17:28 for East; Owen Nolan at 18:54 for West; Owen Nolan at 19:02 for West. Final: Eastern 11, Western 7.

Fastest three goals, one team - 1:08, Wales, 1993 at Montreal. Mike Gartner scored at 3:15 and 3:37 of first period, and Peter Bondra at 4:23.

Fastest four goals, one team - 4:17, Western, 2007 at Dallas. Brian Rolston scored at 8:30 of the second, Rick Nash scored at 10:40, Martin Havlat at 11:34 and Yanic Perreault at 12:47. Final: Western 12, Eastern 9.

Most goals, both teams, one period - 10, 1997 at San Jose. Second period - Eastern (6), Western (4). Final: Eastern 11, Western 7.

Most goals, one team, one period - 7 (Wales), first period, 1990 at Pittsburgh. Final: Wales 12, Campbell 7.

Most shots, both teams, one period - 39, 1994 at New York. Second period - West (21), East (18).

Most shots, one team, one period - 23, World, third period, 2001 at Denver. Final: North America (14), World (12).

Fewest shots, both teams, one period - 9, 1971 at Boston, third period, West (7), East (2). Final: West 2, East 1.

Fewest shots, one team, one period - 2, East, third period, 1971 at Boston. Final: West 2, East 1.

---

Most games played - 23, Gordie Howe; 16, Wayne Gretzky; 15, Frank Mahovlich.

Most goals - 13, Wayne Gretzky, 18 games; 13, Mario Lemieux, 10 games.

Most assists - 16, Joe Sakic, 12 games.

Most points - 25, Wayne Gretzky (13 goals, 12 assists), 18 games; 23, Mario Lemieux (13 goals, 10 assists), 10 games.

Most penalty minutes - 25, Gordie Howe, 23 games.

Most power-play goals - 6, Gordie Howe, 23 games.

---

Most games played - 13, Glenn Hall.

Most goals against - 27, Patrick Roy, 9 games.

Most minutes played - 540, Glen Hall, 13 games.

---

Most goals - 4, Wayne Gretzky, Campbell, 1983; Mario Lemieux, Wales, 1990; Vincent Damphousse, Campbell, 1991; Mike Gartner, Wales, 1993.

Most assists - 5, Mats Naslund, Wales, 1988.

Most points - 6, Mario Lemieux (3 goals, 3 assists), Wales, 1990.

Most points, one period - 4, Wayne Gretzky, Campbell, third period, 1983, four goals; Mike Gartner, Wales, first period, 19ree goals, one assist; Adam Oates, Boston, Wales, first period, 1993, four assists.

Most goals, one period - 4, Wayne Gretzky, Campbell, third period, 1983.

Most assists, one period - 4, Adam Oates, Wales, first period, 1993.

Fastest goal from start of game - 19 seconds, Ted Lindsay, Detroit, 1950.

Fastest goal from start of period: 17 seconds, Ray Bourque, North America, 1999, second period.

Fastest two goals, one player, from start of game: 3:37, Mike Gartner, Wales, 1993, at 3:15 and 3:37.

Fastest two goals - 8 seconds, Owen Nolan, Western, 1997. Scored at 18:54 and 19:02 of second period.

[Bronx33]

http://www.canada.com/topics/sports/...51dca5a&k=1908


Canadian Press
Published: Thursday, January 25, 2007


QUEBEC - All-star goalie Patrick Roy says he’s staying as coach and co-owner of the Quebec Remparts junior hockey team.

And a complaint filed with police against Roy has been withdrawn.

Pierre Cardinal of the Chicoutimi Sagueneens is dropping legal proceedings against Roy.

The complaint was filed late last week when Roy was allegedly involved in a shoving match after a game between the Remparts and the Sagueneens in Saguenay, about 250 kilometres north of Quebec City.

Cardinal says he and his family have been shaken by the events.

Roy had mused about quitting the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League team because of the controversy.
© Canadian Press 2007

[Bronx33]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=2742573

TORONTO -- Executive director Ted Saskin is facing another challenge to his leadership of the NHL Players' Association, with a majority of the 30 union-player representatives approving an independent investigation into his hiring.

The action was announced Thursday in a statement from a New York public relations company, with players and officials scattered across the country after Wednesday night's All-Star Game.

"This is an informative investigation that we feel will preserve the integrity of our NHLPA constitution and leadership process," Mathieu Schneider, a Detroit Red Wings defenseman and interim NHLPA executive committee member, said in the statement. "The purpose of the investigation is to clear the air, produce clarity on these questions and fortify a strong unified union."

A conference call was scheduled Thursday night between Saskin and the executive board, which is made up of the NHLPA's executive committee and the player-representatives from the 30 teams.

News of this latest challenge comes three days after a lawsuit against Saskin and others was dismissed by a U.S. federal court in Illinois. The judge agreed with the NHLPA position that Ontario rather than Illinois should host such a lawsuit, if indeed it was even warranted.

A group of about 70 players led by Chris Chelios, Dwayne Roloson and Trent Klatt has sought Saskin's removal as the NHLPA's executive director since he took over from Bob Goodenow following the lockout.

[Jori]

The name of the Avs AHL affiliate next season will be the Lake Erie Monsters.

http://www.lakeeriemonsters.com/

[Clockwork Orange]

Originally Posted by Jori

The name of the Avs AHL affiliate next season will be the Lake Erie Monsters.

http://www.lakeeriemonsters.com/

I am so getting a Monsters jersey.

[Bronx33]

So it all comes together............i agree pretty cool sweaters

[Bronx33]

http://www.lakeeriemonsters.com/sightings/

[Bronx33]

Our grizzlies went full circle!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_Grizzlies_(1995-2005)

The Utah Grizzlies, which moved to Utah following their only season in Denver, Colorado shortly after the NHL's Quebec Nordiques announced their relocation to become the Colorado Avalanche, was admitted to the AHL when the IHL folded in 2001. They played their home games in the E Center.

While in Denver, the Grizzlies won the 1994-1995 Turner Cup, the official Championship of the International Hockey League.

The franchise was granted a voluntary suspension for the 2005-2006 season while the owner found a buyer for the AHL franchise. That buyer arrived in May 2006, as the owner of the NBA Cleveland Cavaliers, Dan Gilbert, purchased the franchise to replace the departing Cleveland Barons. The new Cleveland Lake Erie Monsters team will begin play in the fall of 2007.

[Pendejo]

Yeah...the logo looks pretty good. It reminds me a bit of the San Diego Padres' high A affiliate Lake Elsinore Storm

[Mtbrncofn]

It looks like Marvin the Martian.

[Pendejo]

Originally Posted by Mtbrncofn

It looks like Marvin the Martian.

No. It's bad ass. The Storm are bad ass just like their logo...as are the Madres...I love the swingin' friar. Not in a gay way though. All of you perverts can take your dirty thoughts re: my enjoyment of the "friar" logo and cram it with walnuts.

You know you want a Lake Elsinore Storm hat now Mt...

Aside from that...it's a great development for the Avs...

[24champ]

Originally Posted by Pendejo

I love the swingin' friar. Not in a gay way though. All of you perverts can take your dirty thoughts re: my enjoyment of the "friar" logo and cram it with walnuts.

Sure thing Pendejo.

[Mtbrncofn]

Originally Posted by Pendejo

You know you want a Lake Elsinore Storm hat now Mt...

Aside from that...it's a great development for the Avs...

For sure. I just want to be able to get my story straight if someone accuses me of the Marvin thing.

[Clockwork Orange]

Mark Recchi scores his 500th career goal tonight in Dallas.

[Jori]

Brisebois is out for the remainder of the season (also safe to say that he's done as an Av).

http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?articleid...e&service=page

[Bronx33]

Cool some good news, he doesn't count against the cap now right? FA time!

[24champ]

Here is a great Blog, some of you may have heard of Gare Joyce from his articles on ESPN .com but this guy knows his s***.

http://garejoycesgames.blogspot.com/...n-couture.html

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Catch a Falling Star: Logan Couture, Luckless Prospect

I saw that Patrick O’Sullivan scored for the Los Angeles Kings the other night. That got me thinking about the prospect whose stock crashes. Every NHL draft has one. The stories of these kids are often the most compelling stuff on draft day.

I wrote about Patrick O’Sullivan prior to the 2003 draft in ESPN The Magazine, a talented kid who was perceived to be a risk. Teams were scared off him, in part, because of a father who physically and emotionally abused him. A CHL Rookie of the Year, he might have had first-round talent but some scouts told me prior to the draft that their clubs wouldn’t take him with their sixth-round picks. Some teams didn’t have him on their lists at all. Minnesota ended up taking him in the middle of the second-round and that pick looks pretty good right now. Yeah, he’s in LA but he turned into an asset that the Wild converted into Pavol Demitra. The O’Sullivan pick looks pretty good when you see some of those tapped in the selections ahead of him. (Weird coincidence: I actually worked with his father at the Coca-Cola plant in Toronto when we were teenagers, didn’t realize it until the son showed me family photos.)

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/p...id%5B%5D=59745

(If you go over to my story archive blog http://garejoyce.blogspot.com/ you can read the O'Sullivan story. It was the first time he talked about "the issues" and I think he's not going there anymore.)

Another guy whose stock was ticking down was Wojtek Wolski. He got into some tussle at a party on the eve of the draft and suddenly he was regarded as Mr Bad Attitude. That seemed a strange one to me. I’d talked to him a bunch of times. Wolski was no blockhead. He was pretty quick on the uptake, way smarter than your run-of-the-mill junior, a little more worldy. Hockey Canada soured on him and wrote him out of the world-junior plans. (Hard for me to figure after he played gamely for the summer 18s in 2003 even though he had a bum wheel that had him on crutches away from the rink.) I think Colorado did pretty well nabbing him late in the first round.

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/p...php3?pid=71741

It’s an interesting draft phenomenon. I don’t think it’s unique to the NHL, not with stories like Aaron Rodgers plunge in the NFL draft a couple of years back. (Watching him fall from No. 2 or 3 or whatever to No. 24 was like watching LZ 129 Hindenburg.) So who’s falling and why? A quick look at the pre-season prospect previews and the mid-term NHL Central Scouting would tell you that no one has fallen harder than Logan Couture, a centre with the Ottawa 67’s. Not that he brought any of this on himself. This poor kid can’t catch a break.

How much has he fallen? Depends where you had him slotted originally. One scout told me last summer that he liked Couture for the top slot, No. 1 overall. That leaves a lot of room to drop. According to the NHL mid-terms, Logan is the 11th ranked North American skater. Project that out and you’d have a mid to late first-rounder. As the English Beat once asked: Wh’appen?

I’ve caught a couple of his games, one in Mississauga in late November, the other the OHL all-stars vs the Russian touring team last month. I asked him about the slide.

Couture was first knocked out of the summer 18s by injury. Freakish. He was a lock to be on the team, a shot to be the captain or at least a first-liner. Then on the last shift of the last game prior to the team selection, he suffered a cut around his knee from a skate blade. “I was playing the best hockey I think I ever played,” he told me. “Set up a goal and scored a goal on the two shifts before. Last shift, there was maybe five seconds left when I got cut. They sewed me up right on the bench. I was thinking that they might still take me but really there was no way they could. I was limping around for a few days.”

Couture showed me the cut. Not for the faint of heart—it had to go deep. Jeez, it still looked fresh four months later.

Missing the 18s was an opportunity lost but it wouldn’t have hurt Couture if he hadn’t contracted mono and missed a good chunk of the first half of Ottawa’s sked. I’m sure that he came back too soon and his performance suffered for it. I sat behind the Ottawa bench in Mississauga and Couture looked more than gassed—he looked nauseous on the ice. It was pretty plain that he couldn’t do the things he was used to doing. A situation like that doesn’t help a prospect—fact is, if the kid is really game he’ll likely expose himself to injury. A step behind where he’s used to being—that’s when a kid gets clocked.

The Ice Dogs smoked Ottawa that day ...

Ottawa 67's 1 vs. Mississauga IceDogs 6
The Mississauga IceDogs defeated the Ottawa 67's 6 - 1 in an OHL hockey game played on Sunday, November 19, 2006.
SHOTS Ottawa 67's - 20 Mississauga IceDogs - 47
SCORING
1. MISS Lawrence, (12) (Schiestel, Santini), 2:42
1. MISS Owens, (16) (Pietrangelo, Legein), 5:24
1. MISS Beljo, (11) (Lawrence, Swift), 15:06
1. MISS Lawrence, (13) (Beljo, Swift), 15:52
1. MISS Swift, (11) (Schiestel), 18:48
2. OTT Lindsay, (3) (Biduke, Lahey), 1:40 (PP)
3. MISS Swift, (12) (Beljo, Santini), 16:06

and would have with or without a healthy Couture. Brian Kilrea (the 67’s coach for those of you who haven’t toured the Hall of Fame) told me that he didn’t think Couture should have been playing. Nice sentiment, but then again, as coach, Killer filled out the line-up, right? And he was still sending Couture out in the death throes of the blow-out--when he came off the ice from his last shift in the last minute Couture looked like he was going to black out.


That was a 4 p.m. game at the Hershey Centre--the place was lousy with NHL scouts, at least 30, who doubled up, Brampton vs Petes at 2 pm, Ott vs Miss on the back half. From the deep corner seats they saw how Couture played--I doubt that they could tell how beat up he was.

Couture told me he was about 85 or 90 percent at the O vs Russia all-star game. Probably the over-optimism of youth. I can’t give you any useful dope on him—it’s hard to tell what type of player he is based on a couple of views, both of them with big asterisks beside them. Word is, though, he’s on the rebound. Season's numbers to date 15-30-45 in 34 games. I’m going to try to catch him in the next little stretch.

The fine print: The ten North American skaters ahead of Couture:

1
ESPOSITO, ANGELO -- QUEBEC --6' 1" 180 C
2
VAN RIEMSDYK, JAMES -- USDP USA U-18 --6' 3" 200 LW
3
GAGNER, SAM -- LONDON -- 5' 10.75" 191 C
4
KANE, PATRICK -- LONDON -- 5' 9.5" 160 RW
5
TURRIS, KYLE -- BCHL -- BURNABY -- 6' 0.5" 170 C
6
ELLERBY, KEATON -- KAMLOOPS -- 6' 4.25" 186 D
7
BLUM, JOHN -- VANCOUVER -- 6' 0.25" 160 D
8
ALZNER, KARL -- CALGARY -- 6' 2" 206 D
9
SUTTER, BRANDON -- RED DEER -- 6' 2.75" 170 C,RW
10
CROSS, TOMMY -- HIGH SCHOOL-CT WESTMINSTER -- 6' 3" 195 D

pithy observations: six-four-and-a-quarter and 186, pretty scrawny for ellerby ... should way something closer to Linda Ellerbie ... it's funny talking to scouts about Angelo Esposito ... it seems like everyone who has seen him wasn't blown away in Rempart games that they caught but heard he was good in the next game after they left ... saw the cross kid at summer 18s ... easily the best US defenceman at the tournament tho' he started the season below the radar somewhat, way behind another US d-man Nick Petrecki from USHL Omaha ... Petrecki is another guy who has seen the ass drop out of his stock based on NHL Central's mid-terms (preseason top 10 guy, now No. 31 among North American skaters) ... Brandon Sutter musta had lead socks on when they weighed him ... doesn't look 160 to me ... Kane is out there as a first liner with the US u-20s and Van Riemsdyk watches the whole freakin' tournament, dumb, dumb, dumb ...

Hope Deano gets a first round pick at the Deadline so we can get Alzner and and Couture!

[Bronx33]

Freaking clement insists theres still a rivalry..lol

[24champ]

Originally Posted by Bronx33

Freaking clement insists theres still a rivalry..lol

I miss Claude Lemieux, god that guy was an animal when he played the Wings.

[Bronx33]

Originally Posted by 24champbailey

I miss Claude Lemieux, god that guy was an animal when he played the Wings.

Opps i posted this on the wrong thread, I agree a team needs a hated guy i remember hating dino ciccerelli with all my heart. And that is what bettman has taken from the game.