2008/09 NHL Thread

Marc Savard was never in shape when he showed up to Flames camp.

Just sayin'.

 

When your leading scoreer only has 23 goals, you're crazy.
Sounds like you are in the room and were at training camp and have a real good feel for his work habits. Like I said before, this happened to him in Anaheim as well, which I think would make it somewhat of a pattern.

You do realize that only Hemsky, Horcoff and Gagner(by a minute) are getting more ice time. Cole, Moreau and Penner are all within seconds of each other. Just going out on limb here, but I bet everyone of them is in better shape and has better work habits.

 

Carlyle was apparently quite the prick to Selanne when Selanne was a rookie.

 

Fair enough.

 

I didn't know that. Do you think they get along a wee bit better these days?

 

Wow, seven goals already in the first period between Buffalo and Boston. Fernandez has already been pulled for the Bruins, Sabres are up 4-3.

 

How well are these Bruins playing right now? 10-1-1 in their last 12, six wins in a row at the Shawmut/Fleet/TD Banknorth and haven't lost a regulation game since Oct. 30 at Calgary.

I think the overall stability of the organization (read: Jeremy Jacobs taking a back seat while guys such as Peter Chiarelli, Cam Neely and the like taking control) and the players believing in Claude Julien can push this young team far. Of course, having Tim Thomas stopping everything isn't a bad thing either.

I'm going to my first Bruins game next month against the Maple Leafs and cannot wait. I still can't believe I'm saying that - I began a Whalers fan - but after 10 years of being a hockey nomad, I needed someone to follow. And since every game is on NESN, and there's no Bruins who played against the Whale, well, I declared at the start of the '07 season. And it's been fun so far.

 

I feel like I am beating my head against a wall here.

Yes he did lead the team with 23 goals last season. Whether you find that weak or not is irrelevant, the Oilers are a franchise that for the past 20 years have struggled to produce anything more than a 20 goal scorer. The fact is he still led the team in goals scored. It still doesn't make sense to bury him on the depth chart before camp even starts.

Ice time can be trumped by linemates and situations. until Tuesday night he had hardly seen time on a scoring line or the power play, usually playing with a mix mash of checkers and on a lot on the PK where he actually played very well for the most part. That's not going to lead to a lot of offensive opportunities.

Did I mention he is now first on the team in plus/minus with a +8? The next closest is Visnovsky at +3. For the most part he has played well in the positions he been stuck, it's just that so few of them have been offensive situations where he can truly be expected produce offensively on a regular basis. Hell in comparison to Gagner who has had ample time on the top two lines and first PP unit, Gagner has 1 goal 4 assists and is a minus-2, but nary a word is said about him.

I'm not the only one who thinks the criticism is at least a little off. Does he deserve some, yes, but MacTavish needs to look at how he was using him.

http://www.tsn.ca/fantasy_news/feature/?ID=549

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/allan_muir/11/18/new.power.rankings/index.html

Those are just the two quickest little snippets I came across in a couple minutes time.

It's to the point where we are both repeatedly rehashing the same arguments and going nowhere. I think it could be best we agree to disagree on this one.

 

Beef, You're right let's agree to disagree...till tommorow. I don't necessarily think you are wrong.I just don't think you take into account how his actions are felt in the room. I'm sure we have bored peopleto death with this. so let's argue about something else.

Danny Macociaa reminds me of Charlie Brown....

 

I turned this game on in the second period, as the Bruins began their comeback. The Sabres looked completely disorganized and took a bunch of ridiculous penalties. Ryan Miller, obviously, was less than spectacular as well.

 

I know for a fact the players swear by him (I have actually talked to a number of them about him), but I think he's a nob. Calling him Charlie Brown is probably a compliment.

Edit: And you're right I don't know how Penner is received in the room, but nothing has been made of that in any blog, report or otherwise. If that was an issue, I'm sure MacTavish wouldn't have held back in his public outlash at the very least some hint of decention revolving Penner would have leaked then.
Reading your post again, if you're referring to how MacTavish is received in the room, that barometer is generally the on ice play. With Penner out of the line up in Detroit and immediately following the MacTacish's comments, that was arguably their worst game of the year. With him back in the lineup and on a scoring line and the power play in Columbus that was one of their better games of the year offensively. Not just Penner, but the likes of Horcoff looked alive for the first time in a long time and the same goes for a number of their forwards.

 

This doesn't sound good. Salary Cap could go down dramatically next year thanks to the tanking economy.

http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081119.wspt_shoalts20/GSStory/GlobeSportsHockey/home