General Hockey Thread v3.0

[Bronx33]

Preseason is here!

[Bronx33]

Dang i thought the monsters were going to go with this logo on the jerseys



But this is what hits the ice..

[24champ]

TSN has learned that the Los Angeles Kings have placed goaltender Dan Cloutier on waivers Friday.

The Kings had hoped that Cloutier would be the answer between the pipes when they acquired him in July of 2006 for a pair of draft picks. However Cloutier struggled with injuries last season, missing 44 games with a hip injury. He finished the season with a record of 6-14-2 with an .860 save percentage.

The former Canucks netminder was expected to challenge for the number one goaltender spot this season with the Kings but has been outplayed in the pre-season by junior eligible netminder Johnathan Bernier who shone for Canada at the Summit Series.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=218857&hubname=nhl


Hey Socal...

[Bronx33]

One year over due IMO i guess the youngsters played well enough to send clouts packin i think bernier sunk the last dagger in the final decision, Salary cap was probably a major factor as well.

[Bronx33]

Boogaard is starting early lol.

http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_...nclick_check=1

CHICAGO - Derek Boogaard is listed as day to day after taking a puck to the head during Friday morning's practice at United Center. It opened a gash that required about 20 stitches and left a wound not disimilar to the one Boris Karloff wore in "Frankenstein."

Asked what hurts worse, a fist or a puck, Boogaard didn't have to think.

"They both hurt," he said.

Ask a stupid question, get an honest answer.

Boogaard said the gash won't keep him from fighting, but it likely will keep him out of Monday's game against Buffalo at Grand Forks, N.D. Wild assistant general manager Tom Lynn said Boogaard is day to day, but the reality is you don't want to send your enforcer out with a big gash waiting to be reopened.

And then there are the details.

"I haven't really tried to put on a helmet yet," Boogaard said. "I don't know how that will go."

Boogaard was hit during a drill Friday at United Center; a shot on goal traveled up Nick Schultz's stick and hit Boogaard just above the left eye. He was taken to the trainer's room and stitched up, given an ice pack and attended to by a doctor.

"There's no head injury or anything like that," Lynn said.

Some players might wear a visor, or even a cage, with such an injury. What about Boogaard?

"Uh, no," he said. "When the doctor looked at me, he said, 'You might need to wear a visor,' and I was like, 'No, that's not going to happen.' "

More injuries: Eric Belanger's upper lip was a little less swollen

[Bronx33]

POINTS



NAME GP G A PTS
*Hensick, T.J., Colo 3 3 3 6
Stastny, Paul, Colo 2 4 2 6
Armstrong, Derek, L.A. 3 2 3 5
Calder, Kyle, L.A. 2 3 2 5
*Foligno, Nick, Ott. 2 2 3 5
Hlinka, Jaroslav, Colo 3 0 5 5
Kariya, Paul, St.L 2 1 4 5
Willsie, Brian, L.A. 3 2 3 5
Brodziak, Kyle, Edm. 2 2 2 4
Brunette, Andrew, Colo 1 1 3 4
Chimera, Jason, ClBJ 2 2 2 4
*Cumiskey, Kyle, Colo 3 1 3 4
Jokinen, Jussi, Dal. 2 0 4 4
Liles, John-Michael, Colo 2 0 4 4
*Stuart, Colin, Atl. 3 1 3 4
Vrbata, Radim, Pho. 3 1 3 4
*Wirtanen, Petteri, Ana. 4 2 2 4
30 tied


3

[24champ]

Originally Posted by Bronx33

One year over due IMO i guess the youngsters played well enough to send clouts packin i think bernier sunk the last dagger in the final decision, Salary cap was probably a major factor as well.

not exactly.

Originally Posted by Dean Lombardi

I think, in looking at it, the thing we've come to realize is that the only way... If you take this in steps, he didn't have a good year last year, with the combination of injuries or whatever. He did go back and he got completely healthy. He was really good this summer in terms of doing all the goalie camps and working with our goaltending people to get his game back technically. So, physically he repaired himself. Technically, he did everything that was asked and he looked a lot better.

But it still comes down to playing. The way we're looking at it is, the reality is that he hasn't played in three years. The only way he's going to totally get his confidence is, first you've got to get physically healthy, and then in order to get his rhythm back, the only way to do that is to play. We were kind of looking at it and seeing where his game was at, and we just felt this was the best thing for him. It will give him a much better base with which to come back and try to be the goaltender he was before we got him.

We were talking about it as we were going through it, and watching his game and seeing where he was mentally and things, and it just reminded me of some pitchers in baseball who you see this happen to. They might lose an inch off their fastball or curveball and (teams) send them down for an assignment to get their game back. So, this guy is coming back from an injury and this is the best way, we think, to handle it and give him the best shot, in terms of when he comes back, to be ready mentally and physically. That mental part isn't really going to turn the corner unless he sees a lot of pucks. That gets his rhythm back. The best place to do that is in the minors. And that's basically it.

http://www.insidesocal.com/kings/200...er_3.html#more

[Bronx33]

Clouts was due 3.5 mil this year (just sayin)

[Bronx33]

Don’t read too much into the Los Angeles Kings’ decision put goaltender Dan Cloutier on waivers today, other than he’ll almost certainly start the season in the minors this season. Considering the NHL’s goalie glut (and the two years left on Cloutier’s contract at $3.1 million per season), there is virtually no chance that anyone would put in a claim for his rights at that price, at this time of year.

No, mostly the decision to waive Cloutier was made to give the Kings some options, should they decide to keep 19-year-old Jonathan Bernier for at least the start of the season, something that became increasingly more likely today.
Cloutier missed most of the past two seasons as a result of injuries – to his right knee and then to his left hip - and he played the previous year in Austria at a comparatively low level.

“The reality is, he hasn’t played for three years,” said Kings’ general manager Dean Lombardi. “The only way to really get his rhythm back and to get him where he needs to be is to get him to play. You see this in baseball all the time, where established pitchers have to do a form of rehab assignments if they lose their fastballs and the only way to get it back – to get totally confident – is to go back to the minors and do it.

“Obviously, we gave this a lot of thought. The bottom line is, we thought this was the only way we could get him back to where he was comfortable. Physically, he’s totally healthy. But as we all know with goaltending, a lot of it has to do with his confidence and his state of mind. The only way he was going to get it all together was to play and to play a lot and not have to do it at this level.”

Kings’ coach Marc Crawford indicated the other day that Bernier’s play in the exhibition season – he’s played well in two 30-minute appearances thus far – turned the competition in goal from a three- to a four-man race: Bernier, Cloutier, Jason LaBarbera and J.S. Aubin.

Bernier is their future, something even Cloutier knows. To keep him on the roster all year would represent something of a gamble, however, given the fact that Bernier’s probably miles ahead of everyone else, after playing in the Junior Summit series for Canada.

However, they could easily start the season with him on the roster to see how he adjusts. If Bernier falters once the pace of NHL play picks up, they could always return him to junior before he plays his 11th game, after which his contract will kick in for the full year.

That, in turn, would give Cloutier time to regain his form in the minors. There is a small gamble involved in bringing Cloutier back once the season begins because, as part of the re-entry waiver process, any NHL team could pick him up for half the price of his contract, with the Kings getting nicked for the other half – both the cash and the salary-cap hit. Cloutier, at half the cost of his contract, might be worth the gamble for a team looking for a back-up (and not willing to run the risk on deploying a kid). Calgary is one team that comes to mind.

[24champ]

Whoever wrote that article has the Bernier situation backwards. Bernier can play 9 games and on the 10th game his pro contract kicks in not on the 11th. I expect Bernier to be given a couple games to see how he does at the NHL level and unless he plays lights out then he is going back to the Juniors.

Originally Posted by Lombardi

Well, we'll see how these guys perform. I don't think that this anoints anybody, as far as the other three, but obviously we've got to trim this down. We thought this was the way to do it and hopefully to get Cloutier back to where he's capable. It doesn't really mean anything for the other three, other than, keep playing and you've got to take the job.

On the Bernier situation-

Well, I think you know how I feel, in terms of how careful you've got to be. I think you let it go day to day. At the minimum, in his case, he's getting valuable experience , and it's experience you can't get in junior hockey, and that's the way we're approaching it. It's like, you watch practice today, and he gets to face NHL shooters and then he gets a half-hour of practice a NHL goalie coach. That's the way we're approaching it.

We still have time, under the rules, to see this through and give him experience. He's accomplished a lot in junior hockey and now we're trying to train him at the next level and we'll see. But to say that anything has been decided on that front, no.

So in other words the job is still wide open, Bernier has been doing good lately. It's pre-season, once the regular season comes around it is a different ballgame. We'll see...stay tuned.

[Bronx33]

A little insight from the stars game from lappy (god i love that guy)

Laperriere’s face was marked with bruises and cuts, courtesy of the 6-foot-2, 241-pound Fedoruk’s sledgehammer-like fists.

"He’s a train and he went over me," Laperriere said. "That’s all right. What can you do?"

With five minutes remaining, Laperriere said, Fedoruk told him before a faceoff he planned to fight defenseman Kurt Sauer, who is 6-4 and 220 pounds but hardly is a fighter.

"(Fedoruk) said, ‘I have to do something, I haven’t done anything. I have to go after somebody,’" Laperriere said. "Well, he won’t go past me."

Laperriere wasn’t penalized after the altercation, but he was given the heave-ho during the Avalanche’s ensuing power play for high-sticking and cross-checking Stars forward Jussi Jokinen.

"I thought it was a stupid move by Fedoruk," Laperriere said. "I told their bench, ‘The next time I’m out there, I’ll do something stupid.’ It was a clean, stupid thing, I guess."

[Bronx33]

Dallas - On a night when the Avalanche allowed many of its heavy lifters the chance to rest, a group of players proved a couple of things.

One, there are a ton of great battles for roster spots on this team.

And two, the Lake Erie Monsters could have a heck of an expansion year.

If the Avalanche's new American Hockey League affiliate is stocked with some of the players who excelled Thursday in a 6-3 preseason win over the Dallas Stars, then there should be plenty of talent to go around.

Winger Eric Healey had two goals and an assist, center T.J. Hensick had a goal and two assists, and center Jaroslav Hlinka had two assists in a fight-filled game in which the Avalanche gave Joe Sakic, Ryan
Colorado Avalanche

Smyth, Scott Hannan, Andrew Brunette, Paul Stastny and Milan Hejduk the night off.

And while coaches in Cleveland might be salivating at the opportunity to get their hands on players like Healey, Hensick and Hlinka, they'll have to wait to see if any of the trio make the parent club.

"We've got a lot of decisions to make," Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville said. "We're deeper, we're stronger. As an organization, our depth has been picking up, and we're in a good position to start the year."

Healey, 32, is a career minor- leaguer who played two games with the Boston Bruins in 2005-06. But he had 27 goals among 75 points at Springfield last season in the AHL and is hoping to force Colorado into a tough decision.

That won't be easy. Hlinka, 30, is coming over after leading his Czech Republic league in scoring. He showed Wednesday that he and Hensick have good chemistry no matter what the combination. Both can play center or wing. Hensick, 21, continues to impress in his first training camp.

"His speed catches your eye," Quenneville said. "I think overall, he's had a really strong camp. We've tried him at center and right wing, and that's a nice option to have."

When asked if it would be too much to ask Hensick to jump straight from the University of Michigan into the Avalanche's lineup, Quenneville replied: "I look back at Wooly (Wojtek Wolski) ... and then Paul Stastny last year," Quenneville said. "You think he's going to need time in the minors, and then you watch him play and he steps right up to bat."

But by having their own affiliate, the coaches say they'll feel confident no matter where the players land. The Avalanche has shared an affiliate the past two seasons in Albany, but it now feels ready to take control of its destiny in that department.

"When you have success the way this organization did, you have to give up some of your future, and we did that in the past. But, over the last few years, we have rebuilt some of that, and now those players are coming into the system," GM Francois Giguere said. "Now we're ready to accommodate those players. We probably have more depth than we've ever had with our 14th and 15th forward and our eighth or ninth D."

[Bronx33]

if larger nets were ever introduced

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



There is no plan to do so but there was a lot of talk about it a couple of years ago during symposiums open to any ideas to enhance offence in the league.

Taller nets, wider nets, curved posts - some of the suggestions were wild.

Luongo, the star goaltender for the Vancouver Canucks, says he'd have no desire to play if nets were larger than the current size of six feet by four feet. During a conference call Tuesday, he was asked how he'd react if bigger nets were mandated.

"If that day comes, I don't think you'd see me in the NHL," he replied.

He'd rather retire, he added.

Luongo appeared in a franchise-record 76 games and posted a 47-22-6 record with a 2.29 goals-against average and five shutouts last season. He was second in the league in victories, falling one short of the NHL record posted by Martin Brodeur. Luongo was so good that he finished second to Sidney Crosby in MVP voting.

He helped the Canucks, who hadn't qualified for the playoffs the season before his arrival, take first place in the tough Northwest Division. They knocked off Dallas in a first-round playoff series that went the seven-game max and were eliminated in five games by eventual champion Anaheim.

Luongo sees good things happening again this season.

"I see us starting a step ahead of last year," he said. "We've made a few key acquisitions up front as far as depth goes with a couple of guys who can put the puck in the net."

He's well aware that expectations of the fans rise with success.

"We want to take it to the next level," Luongo said. "We were proud of what we accomplished last season.
Click here to find out more!

"Not a lot of people put us (atop the division in pre-season predictions). There's a lot of hard work to be done. We're in a tough division, but we have the character and talent to do it again."

As for himself, getting into playoff games for the first time since 2000 with the New York Islanders' farm team in Lowell, Mass., was a thrill.

"The excitement you have when you're in the playoffs, it gets you more revved up to have a good year and make sure you're part of it again," he said.

It is hard to imagine that he could top last season's heroic performances, but he'll give it a try. The heavy workload he carries might wear him down later in his career but, at age 28, he's just approaching his prime.

"You have to listen to your body," he said. "Sometimes you feel like you need a rest, a day off, and you have to listen to your body."

Oh, "Eat well and get some good sleep," he added.

He stuck to a rigid conditioning program throughout the summer.

"The workouts have got more intense the last few years so I can be in the best possible shape when training camp rolls around," he said.

His return to a hockey-mad Canadian market from south Florida has been a boon to Luongo's career. There was added pressure but he handled it with ease. He loves the game-to-game challenges.

"It went pretty easy," he said of the change of scenery. "It wasn't a big adjustment at all.

"Hockey-wise, the main thing is to learn about the shooters in the West, guys I didn't get to see too often."

Luongo was asked for the umpteenth time to explain why he was late rejoining his teammates for the first overtime period of the team's last playoff game last May. Backup Dany Sabourin handled the first 3:34 when Luongo wasn't available. Sabourin made five saves before there was a stoppage in action and Luongo returned to the crease. The Ducks won 2-1 with a goal at 4:30 of the second overtime.

"It's already out there what happened," Luongo said. "I was a little bit sick so I couldn't come out for the start of overtime.

"It was a pretty intense game. It happened and, thank God, they didn't score on us (while he was missing in action) or else it would have been devastating for me."

It's water under the bridge now.

A new season is about to begin and he's looking ahead. Looking way ahead, he'd look great on Canada's Olympic team in 2010 stopping Russian, American and Czech pucks in his home NHL rink. That would be something.

But leave those nets alone.

[24champ]

Originally Posted by Bronx33

if larger nets were ever introduced

I think implementing an international hockey rink instead of the smaller one we have now in the NHL would be a lot better for the brand of hockey. Not making nets bigger. Obviously we can't make the rinks international size because of all the new arenas already built so that ship sailed. Don't make the nets bigger, the league has bigger problems to focus on Bettman.

[Bronx33]

http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?service=p...008&gameType=1

Salzburg? wth did i miss? lol

[24champ]

Originally Posted by Bronx33

http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?service=p...008&gameType=1

Salzburg? wth did i miss? lol

Playing in the Red Bull tournament as a warmup to the opening games this weekend. Keep in mind the Kings didn't play in a NHL regulation sized rink, though our Goalies are not impressing at the moment. Bernier looks more and more like the guy to start the season.

[SoCalBronco]

Originally Posted by 24champbailey

Playing in the Red Bull tournament as a warmup to the opening games this weekend. Keep in mind the Kings didn't play in a NHL regulation sized rink, though our Goalies are not impressing at the moment. Bernier looks more and more like the guy to start the season.

JMFJ should be in goal, he'd prolly have a save percentage of around .950 even though he has never played the position. It's JMFJ after all. He's more powerful than Hixon and Mustard....combined.

[24champ]

The Kings have won the Gold Balls trophy from the Red Bull Tournament in Austria...THE KINGS WON SOMETHING! WHOOOHOO!