All-purpose hockey thread...

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

Then, I stand corrected.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

Mr Beat,

So it's not that I'm unoriginal, just the master of the obvious. Comforting.

Re aforementioned D men. It's not that they're no-talents. They are blacksmiths in an IT world. The game was once kind to them but no longer. Odelein by the way has his ring and played for Team Canada (and played pretty well when called on) at the first World Cup. Yeah, he would struggle to find a place at his advanced age in the old league, but he wouldn't drag a team down the way he does now. Larry Murphy's career would have been three years shorter and Paul Coffey's three years longer. Does that make the game better? It's too soon to commit.

Quinn BTW didn't think much of Steve Sullivan and Fred Modin. They seem to have done pretty well--and all he got for them was Cory Cross.

YHS, etc

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

Mr. Miler,

It's not everyone who can master the obvious. Just look at posters on this board.

Cory Cross for Sullivan and Modin...Quinn certainly can spot talent, can't he?

YHS.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

sullivan was brutal...he let the guy go on waivers. that was awful.

look, every gm has their bad moves. even worse than that was his decision to sign dmitri khristich to a four-year, $10 million deal. but, as a coach, hes tried to play the kind of hockey the nhl needs.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

Mr Dad,

I think Sullivan might be able to make the Leafs nowadays. He was hardly "brutal" on his worst days.

Industry opinion--execs and scouts, not reporters that is--holds that Quinn is as good a coach as you can find, but offers a lot less as a GM. Nobody I ever talked to begrudged or second-guessed his installment as Can-Oly coach.

YHS, etc

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

It certainly would seem that every league should go away for a season, what with the 91.2 percent capacity in October. I know it's just the first month back, but if those numbers hold that would be big.

Or would it? Is it just the prototypical "every city has 20,000 core hockey fans"? The TV numbers haven't been great.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

Buffalo's announced attendance last night was under 14,000, which means there were probably about 10,000 people in an arena built to hold more than 19,000. Pretty sad considering the visitors were the Ottawa Senators, who are a pretty exciting team.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

Maybe four thousand left after Ottawa scored 4 goals on, what, 7 shots on Biron?

"Exciting" doesn't begin to describe the Senators. They might just take it all. Alfreddson, Spezza and Heatley may be the most potent line in the league.

And this coming from a Leafs looser fanboy who shared the Leafs Nation collective opinion that until now the Ottawa team was a bunch of gutless pukes who couldn't win a high school road hockey tournament.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

Ottawa was one of the teams that benefited from the new rules, simply because they are a great transition team.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

HB. Totally agree. And now they have McGrattan who beat up Domi. And they have arguably the best goalie in the world. And Murray's unleashed them. And they got rid of Hossa who epitomized their softness.

It pains me to say it but MY Leafs don't have a chance against them.

That said, the Sens will probably pull The Mother of All Chokes and lose in the first round to the 8th place team.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

And to make matters worse, the latter move necessitated the former.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

Ottawa has toughness in McGrattan and Neil. They have scorers in Heatley, Spezza, Alfreddson. They have great defensemen in Chara and Redden.

However, the Sens don't have the best goalie in the world. The best goalie in the world plays for the Rangers. His name is Lundqvist.   ;D