If anyone forgot, The puck drops tonight!

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 9:54 pm

Best kept secret of the NHL, Calgary's D-man rookie Dion Phaneuf. This guy can play and hit.

Sully · Post by **Sully** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 10:38 pm

Wow, what a game between the Flyers and Pens. Crosby wins it on a OT breakaway with less than a minute left. Credit this win to Marc-Andre Fleury. He was spectacular in goal, in a game he was scheduled to be the backup. Jocelyn Thibault went down in the pregame, after taking a puck to the throat.

Great game.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 10:44 pm

I missed most of the game and was flipping between the Sixers and Pens.

What happened to Crosby's teeth?

Sully · Post by **Sully** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 10:47 pm

Leebo33 wrote:I missed most of the game and was flipping between the Sixers and Pens.

What happened to Crosby's teeth?

He got tangled up with Hatcher earlier in the game, and headed to the locker room for a couple minutes. I assume it happened then.

HipE · Post by **HipE** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 11:22 pm

Leebo33 wrote:I missed most of the game and was flipping between the Sixers and Pens.

What happened to Crosby's teeth?

He actually got tangled up with Hatcher twice in the second period. The first time, Hatcher rode him into the boards and got his glove up in Sid's face and Sid fell down, and then went to the lockerroom for a bit. His next shift back on the ice, Hatcher smacked him with his stick up in the face, but the ref didn't see it. Crosby then flipped out after not drawing a call on either play, and the refs gave him a penalty for complaining. Crosby was visibly pissed off all of the third period and OT, and managed to scored two goals and set up another. I guess you don't want to make him mad

And to echo Sully, Pittsburgh would not have been in this game without Fleury. He was awesome in regulation, and even better in OT, which the Flyers just dominated until Crosby's breakway winner. I hate that Pens management keeps sending Caron and Thibault out there when Fleury obviously gives the Pens the best chance to win, all because they don't want to pay him the bonus he would get if he plays in 25 games this year.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 11:28 pm

HipE wrote:I hate that Pens management keeps sending Caron and Thibault out there when Fleury obviously gives the Pens the best chance to win

It seems like the players are doing their best to rectify the situation. Is this twice Thibault's been knocked out in warmups?

All joking aside, I hope he's OK though.

lexbur · Post by **lexbur** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 11:20 am

Exciting night in Columbus last night, despite the loss. The crowd seemed to come alive every time Fedorov touched the puck, #91 jerseys were flying off the shelves.

They kept saying Zherdev's going to benefit the most from Federov coming, showing the kid the ropes both on and off the ice and helping him with the language barrier.

They seemed to work pretty well together on the ice last night, now all they have to do is start scoring.

rubba19 · Post by **rubba19** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 3:31 pm

Leebo33 wrote:
HipE wrote:I hate that Pens management keeps sending Caron and Thibault out there when Fleury obviously gives the Pens the best chance to win
It seems like the players are doing their best to rectify the situation. Is this twice Thibault's been knocked out in warmups?

All joking aside, I hope he's OK though.

He must be fine...today's transactions.

Pittsburgh Penguins - Assigned goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.

BRILLIANT! Way to reward the kid, Pens.

Feanor · Post by **Feanor** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 11:27 pm

The refereeing in the last two minutes of tonights Flyer's-Thrashers game was unbelievably bad. First the refs give Atlanata a 5-3 by calling a phantom hook on Hatcher. And then Gagne is brought down right in front of the ref when he's about to put the puck into the empty net, and the ref doesn't make the call! Absolutely horrible.

Sully · Post by **Sully** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 11:28 pm

Feanor wrote:The refereeing in the last two minutes of tonights Flyer's-Thrashers game was unbelievably bad. First the refs give Atlanata a 5-3 by calling a phantom hook on Hatcher. And then Gagne is brought down right in front of the ref when he's about to put the puck into the empty net, and the ref doesn't make the call! Absolutely horrible.

I'm not one to complain about the refs, but that was completely horrible. It was like the refs were trying to make the game close down the stretch...

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 1:44 am

rubba19 wrote:
Leebo33 wrote:
HipE wrote:I hate that Pens management keeps sending Caron and Thibault out there when Fleury obviously gives the Pens the best chance to win
It seems like the players are doing their best to rectify the situation. Is this twice Thibault's been knocked out in warmups?

All joking aside, I hope he's OK though.
He must be fine...today's transactions.

Pittsburgh Penguins - Assigned goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.

BRILLIANT! Way to reward the kid, Pens.

Two ways to look at it here. From your fan point of view everyone would like to see more in action the goalie of the future for the Pens. From management's point of view, if Fleury got a 2 way contract (meaning PITT and their afiliate AHL team), and shows up in every practice, every day that he hangs around with the rest of the team it costs them $$$. And if PITT is close to their salary cap of 39 million, then they might be just doing it to save money and when it comes to gameday, recall the kid.

That's my guess with them, I don't know exactly the goaltending situation in PITT, but the Canucks are doing the same thing with a couple of players saving them about $5000 a day.

Feanor · Post by **Feanor** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 8:47 am

Sully wrote:
Feanor wrote:The refereeing in the last two minutes of tonights Flyer's-Thrashers game was unbelievably bad. First the refs give Atlanata a 5-3 by calling a phantom hook on Hatcher. And then Gagne is brought down right in front of the ref when he's about to put the puck into the empty net, and the ref doesn't make the call! Absolutely horrible.
I'm not one to complain about the refs, but that was completely horrible. It was like the refs were trying to make the game close down the stretch...

I could live with the hooking penalty on Hatcher since it wasn't as bad as the tripping penalty he got against Ottawa where the Senator just fell over. But I'll never understand why the ref didn't call a penalty when Gagne was hauled down. The puck was right there waiting to be tapped in the net...

vader29 · Post by **vader29** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 10:50 am

10spro wrote:Two ways to look at it here. From your fan point of view everyone would like to see more in action the goalie of the future for the Pens. From management's point of view, if Fleury got a 2 way contract (meaning PITT and their afiliate AHL team), and shows up in every practice, every day that he hangs around with the rest of the team it costs them $$$. And if PITT is close to their salary cap of 39 million, then they might be just doing it to save money and when it comes to gameday, recall the kid.

That's my guess with them, I don't know exactly the goaltending situation in PITT, but the Canucks are doing the same thing with a couple of players saving them about $5000 a day.

It is all about the money, I believe if Fleury plays in 20-25 NHL games then he is owed 3 million for this season.

Should be a great game tonight with the rematch with the Flyers.

Diablo25 · Post by **Diablo25** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 11:05 am

Feanor wrote:The refereeing in the last two minutes of tonights Flyer's-Thrashers game was unbelievably bad. First the refs give Atlanata a 5-3 by calling a phantom hook on Hatcher. And then Gagne is brought down right in front of the ref when he's about to put the puck into the empty net, and the ref doesn't make the call! Absolutely horrible.

F'n co-signed

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 12:29 pm

Stevie Y is whining about the "new NHL:"

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=2229790

Any coincidence this whine comes in the midst of a three-game losing streak and in a season in which Yzerman has just six points?

I think not. The game, especially with its speed, has passed Yzerman by. He needs to wake up to that.

The sad thing is that Yzerman would have flourished even more with these rules if they were in effect 10 or 15 years ago. He would have put up even better numbers than he did during his illustrious career.

Take care,
PK

snaz16 · Post by **snaz16** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 7:17 pm

Lightning with a big win Sun nite over the Hurricanes in Carolina! Dare I say they seem to be getting on track?

Sully · Post by **Sully** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 7:22 pm

Being that they're 3-6-1 in their last 10, and only 3-2 over their last 5...I'd hold off on the "back on track" comments. They do have a big game with Philly tomorrow night.

snaz16 · Post by **snaz16** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 11:25 pm

Sully wrote:Being that they're 3-6-1 in their last 10, and only 3-2 over their last 5...I'd hold off on the "back on track" comments. They do have a big game with Philly tomorrow night.

Or 3 out of 4,with a shootout loss to the Caps,oh and a 5-2 waxing of the Flyers last week

Sully · Post by **Sully** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 11:29 pm

snaz16 wrote:
Sully wrote:Being that they're 3-6-1 in their last 10, and only 3-2 over their last 5...I'd hold off on the "back on track" comments. They do have a big game with Philly tomorrow night.
Or 3 out of 4,with a shootout loss to the Caps,oh and a 5-2 waxing of the Flyers last week

I'm sorry, you lost me at shootout loss to the Caps...

snaz16 · Post by **snaz16** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 11:32 pm

Sully wrote:
snaz16 wrote:
Sully wrote:Being that they're 3-6-1 in their last 10, and only 3-2 over their last 5...I'd hold off on the "back on track" comments. They do have a big game with Philly tomorrow night.
Or 3 out of 4,with a shootout loss to the Caps,oh and a 5-2 waxing of the Flyers last week
I'm sorry, you lost me at shootout loss to the Caps...

Should be good tommorrow,the Flyers Lightning games the last couple of years have been entertaining.

Sully · Post by **Sully** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 11:38 pm

snaz16 wrote:
Sully wrote:
snaz16 wrote: Or 3 out of 4,with a shootout loss to the Caps,oh and a 5-2 waxing of the Flyers last week
I'm sorry, you lost me at shootout loss to the Caps...

Should be good tommorrow,the Flyers Lightning games the last couple of years have been entertaining.

Indeed. If it weren't for the launch of the 360, I would have been there. Being that tomorrow should be a long day, I sold my tickets.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 12:15 am

Not me. Ovechkin and Crosby are the names to watch tomorrow and the game to see. Should be a fun one.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 11:13 am

Nice win last night for the Oil in the shootout. Another impressive showing for rookie goalie Mike Morrison, who is a great story.

Morrison was recalled three weeks ago from the ECHL, two steps below the NHL. He was the best goalie in the Oilers' camp in September, but the brass kept Conklin and Markkanen in Edmonton and sent Morrison to the low minors.

Conklin, who sucked in camp, got hurt, so Morrison was recalled. He played very well in his NHL debut to beat Colorado, was solid in relief of a shaky Markkanen Saturday night against Chicago and was solid again last night against SJ. I think the Oil may have found a new No. 1 goalie -- in the ECHL!

Man, that game last night reminded me of the 2003-04 NHL. Not many scoring chances, and San Jose put four guys on the blue line to clog the Oilers' speed. That's the first time I've watched the Sharks for any extended time this season, and it might be the last other than when they play the Oil. They are one dull, plodding team to watch.

But that game did remind me just how good the new rules are in the NHL. I don't want any part of games that look like last night's!

Finally, I nominate Michael Peca of Edmonton as the most overpaid player in the NHL right now. This guy is making $3.99 million this season as the second-highest paid player on the team, and he has ONE F*CKING GOAL.

Now, I know Peca is a defensive center who excels on faceoffs, but should a checking line center who gives you nothing offensively add $4 million against the salary cap? I think not.

I've always been a Peca fan since he played for Syracuse's AHL team in 1994-95. But this guy has been a total bust this season for Edmonton. A grinder for $4 million? Give me a break.

Shawn Horcoff is Edmonton's leading scorer with 23 points, and he makes $1 million per year. Ales Hemsky is the No. 2 scorer with 22 points, and he makes $901,000. So the top two scorers on the team, who have combined for 45 points this season, make less than half combined of Peca, who has one goal and five assists and is -2 in 19 games this season.

Hell, Marty Reasoner is a good checking center on the fourth line for the Oil, and he has five goals and five assists this year. He makes $650,000.

Peca has been a joke this year for the Oil. I've really grown to appreciate just how good Pronger, the Oil's other "big" free-agent signing this summer, really is. On the other hand, Peca has sucked.

Take care,
PK

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 12:42 pm

Pk, what's Peca's contract in terms of longevity? You're right at 4 million, who would want him?

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 1:12 pm

10spro wrote:Pk, what's Peca's contract in terms of longevity? You're right at 4 million, who would want him?

Peca's in the last year of the deal that he signed with the Islanders, which the Oilers picked up when they traded Mike York and some draft picks to New York to get Peca.

I would pay Peca about $1 million per season, tops. That's what a veteran, grinding defensive center who's great on faceoffs but is useless offensively -- and that's Mike Peca this season -- is worth in the "new NHL."

Peca becomes an unrestricted free agent after this season. If he continues to play this poorly, the Oilers either will try to resign him hopefully for at least half the money or let him go, freeing up cap space.

With OHL phenom Robbie Schremp all but guaranteed a spot in Edmonton next year at center, Peca is looking more and more expendable after this season. No big loss at $4 million per year, especially if he continues to play this sh*tty.

I'd like to say Peca is still suffering lingering effects from the concussion earlier this season, but he showed no offensive prowess at all before that big hit.

Take care,
PK