< NHL Discussion Thread >

[Xiomera]

I just wouldn't expect Parise to take a hometown discount.

[Rosebud]

Woo! Varlamov's pretty awesome, god am I going to be pissed when he rips his groin.

Landeskog is playing really well for an 18 year old, getting shots on net, being active and getting into the right places on the ice. Plus that third line is playing some damn fine hockey right now as O'Reilly seems to have realized that he can play offense and defense on the same shift and Winnik is just a fine hard working guy who's strong in his own zone and cycles well.

Dutchy and Staz need their wingers to get their **** together. Mueller's really rusty so I'm not going to worry about him until about a month into the season and Duke still gets it done, but Jones has been floating and Kobasew just doesn't belong on a top line. If Lindstrom's not capable of replacing Kobasew then Gali's earning his shot to go back to a top line, plus him and Staz had chemistry before his injury. There's just no way we can have staz continue being the top shooting threat on his line, his wrister's got a lot better over the years, but he's just so much better as a playmaker that we're wasting him by forcing him to not just make the plays, but also finish them.

The D looks much improved, Quincey's still very mediocre and EJ hasn't been able to sustain those periods of beastiliness he's put up yet, but the D as a whole looks pretty good. Hejda and O'Brien have both surprised the **** out of me with how not atrocious they are with the puck and they can even skate. Wilson's still a tard, but he's already gotten one big hit on his score board so far and I'm hoping it's just a matter of time until Barrie or Elliott get the bump up and replace him.

Overall the Avs have some nice things going for them right now and as the season progresses and lines change the offense should start clicking as well. Maybe the Avs won't give the Caps a lottery pick this year afterall.

God do I hope we can sign Suter or Parise this offseason. That would definitely make up for not being able to play Stefan Elliott or Tyson Barrie from day one because they don't earn enough for us to stay above the cap floor.

[SuperMcGee]

You know who'd be a good top-6 winger for you guys?

Chris Stewart.

[Rosebud]

Originally Posted by SuperMcgee

You know who'd be a good top-6 winger for you guys?

Chris Stewart.

Yeah, wish we could've just gotten EJ for free from them, that would've been so awesome.

EDIT: Although then we wouldn't have drafted Lando and I kinda want that kid to marry my little sister...so I'm not sure if I'd really be ok with that. Signing Parise to join Lando and EJ is much better, me thinks...

[Wootylicous]

Marcus Johansson is filthy

[Mushtaq23]

Looking for a NHL team to support. Want to get into it more this season but it's obviously a lot more fun when you have a team to follow. I'm from New Zealand so location doesn't matter. I used to sort of follow Colorado and then also Toronto so I am thinking about getting in behind one of them again properly. How are those two teams looking this year?

I guess I would like a decent young team to follow that has some potential but is not a top line team at the moment. That would be ideal.

[MichaelJordanEberle (sabf)]

Woooo Devilzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

^Also I would probably recommend Los Angeles. They've got a lot of good young players and are primed to break out soon.

[Jensen]

If you like Los Angeles you have to deal with sarf so I would advise against that.

[Job Reborn]

Originally Posted by Mushtaq23

Looking for a NHL team to support. Want to get into it more this season but it's obviously a lot more fun when you have a team to follow. I'm from New Zealand so location doesn't matter. I used to sort of follow Colorado and then also Toronto so I am thinking about getting in behind one of them again properly. How are those two teams looking this year?

I guess I would like a decent young team to follow that has some potential but is not a top line team at the moment. That would be ideal.

If you'd ever like your team to win a cup, I suggest you not to consider Toronto.

[Rosebud]

Originally Posted by Mushtaq23

Looking for a NHL team to support. Want to get into it more this season but it's obviously a lot more fun when you have a team to follow. I'm from New Zealand so location doesn't matter. I used to sort of follow Colorado and then also Toronto so I am thinking about getting in behind one of them again properly. How are those two teams looking this year?

I guess I would like a decent young team to follow that has some potential but is not a top line team at the moment. That would be ideal.

Avs looking shockingly competent. They're super young and have had a ridiculous amount of turnover over the past 3 years, I think Hejduk and Stastny are the only significant players the new regime hasn't brought in. 3 years ago this team did terrible, got the third overall pick and grabbed a really exciting Centerman. Then 2 years ago, that rookie center and our second round pick, another rookie center joined the squad alongside a couple other guys breaking out and we made the playoffs on the backs of a high scoring offense and some really good goaltending.

Then last year happened. Last year that same really good goalie got pissed he didn't get the contract extension he wanted and moped around until a deadline deal with Ottawa. Despite awful defense and poor goaltending the Avs had a top 5 offense and we're in control of a playoff spot through christmas until the injuries just became too much and the Avs finished with only 5 or 6 wins out of their last 30 games and got the second overall pick.

This year they look like they can play D and they have talented guys trying to get back into form offensively. It's exciting to be an Avs fan know cause we've got a lot of young talent in key spots. We have young franchise caliber talent at Center (Matt Duchene), defense (Erik Johnson) and Goalie (Semyon Varlamov) and we've got some really good young supporting talent including Centers Paul Stastny and Ryan O'Reilly, Wingers Gabriel Landeskog (our #2 overall pick), David Jones (who was on pace for a 30 goal season last year), Peter Mueller (who put up 20 points in 15 games with Duchene before Mueller got his first in a series of concussions and is still shaking off the rust) and Hejduk is still around. Defensively we're big but we really need one of our promising more offensive prospects to develop, fortunately both Stefan Elliott and Tyson Barrie have looked great and played well in camp and preseason so that when we can afford to the play them they should be poised to excel.

Overall the Avs are going to finish in the 6-12 range out west this year and have a **** ton of money to spend next summer, we're barely scraping above the cap floor so that the new CBA doesn't **** the team the way the last one did. So if all goes well the Avs will be in a good position to make a serious run after some of the high profile free agents coming up next season like Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. With the strength down the middle and prospects in defense the Avs are really just a couple years and a high profile winger away from being a serious perennial contender.

[SuperMcGee]

Originally Posted by Wooty Magic!

Marcus Johansson is filthy

Absolutely. Can't believe he was a healthy scratch in the first game. He needs to become their #2 center.

[scottyboy]

Originally Posted by Xiomera

I just wouldn't expect Parise to take a hometown discount.

you just shut your ***** mouth and let me have some hope

[SuperMcGee]

Like what the Devils do even matters when the Islanders Dynasty Part II happens in 3-4 years.

[SuperMcGee]

That Florida powerplay was undoubtedly the worst thing I have ever seen.

[Hines]

Richard Park owns at getting shorties.

[Xiomera]

Tweets from Bob McKenzie at TSN: http://twitter.com/#!/TSNBobMcKenzie

More and more NHL governors convinced DET will be moving to SE Div in Eastern Conference when realignment done in early December.

If DET goes to SE (East), it's plausible and possible WPG could take DET's place in Central Div (West). Realignment would be done.

Nothing firm yet on realignment, but DET has been good soldier in West for long time. WPG would be fine with Central as opposed to NW.

If that happened, DAL would be most unhappy. Stars want in Central Div. OK, that's all the realignment talk. Discuss amongst yourselves.

NHL won't put MIN in otherwise all CDN division. WPG said to be cool being in Central with 4 US.

[Todd Bertuzzi]

Nashville to the SE would make the most sense geographically. I just can't see Detroit in the East.

[Borat]

Detroit is running scared of San Jose. Go to the East Wings. We will allow it.

[Xiomera]

Originally Posted by Borat

Detroit is running scared of San Jose. Go to the East Wings. We will allow it.

Obviously this comment is meant to bait me. I won't go there.

But I don't recall any Stanley Cup banners or even finals appearances to boast about in San Jose ...

[Xiomera]

Originally Posted by Todd Bertuzzi

Nashville to the SE would make the most sense geographically. I just can't see Detroit in the East.

It makes less sense than you think. The difference in time zones is equally significant to simple geography. Detroit and Columbus are the only Western Conference teams in the eastern time zone.

The Preds, also, don't sound too eager to move to the East from anything I've ever heard. Detroit and Columbus have been lobbying.

[Xiomera]

If you guys have time, read this article by Bob McKenzie that outlines virtually every single factor in the realignment debate. It's very well thought out.

http://www.tsn.ca/blogs/bob_mckenzie/?id=377916

I'm totally in favor of realigning to four divisions, mostly because I love the idea of Rounds 1 and 2 being seeded based on division standings. I also love the idea of every team getting a home-and-away series with the other 29 teams. Variety can only be a good thing for attendance and fan interest.

[njx9]

bleh. i hate the idea of detroit in the east.

[Xiomera]

Originally Posted by njx9

bleh. i hate the idea of detroit in the east.

I'd rather they remain in the West, but move to a more balanced schedule to at least even out the travel for all teams. The teams in the East, especially the Atlantic, have it so good travel-wise and there's a real disadvantage to many of the teams stuck in the middle.

I sympathize with the plight of a team like Dallas, which is geographically close to no one.

[Hines]

Kunitz resigns 2 years for 3.75 a year. Nice. He's a big part of our team.


Oh, and Sid is cleared for contact and should be back in a few weeks. Fap fap fap.

[Rosebud]

So my future brother in law Gabriel Landeskog scored his first NHL goal yesterday. I'm still excited.