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 Post subject: Most surprising start?
PostPosted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 9:22 am 
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The Avalanche have been getting a lot of attention, deservedly so, but is that more surprising than Buffalo leading their division as well? That is a damn good division they are competing in, and yet they are still 7-1-1...Phoenix is another surprise team, competing with the Sharks and the powerhouse of the west (kings). What about Detroit? they have been mediocre as some here predicted they would be ( 8) ), but most people picked them to be the cream of the crop in the west, yet their goal tending has been awful, including a performance against Vancouver where Osgood was pulled after two goals in the first ten minutes.

So what is your biggest surprise? Mine has to be the Avalanche, they were piss-poor bad last year, and didn't make many improvements, yet they are playing good hockey (mostly on the road) and beating a lot of upper-tier opponents.

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Last edited by crosscheck on Mon Nov 02, 2009 10:42 am, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 10:23 pm 
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I love how you posted this thinking you might get a serious response from someone on this board.

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PostPosted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 10:26 pm 
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Puckhead wrote:
I love how you posted this thinking you might get a serious response from someone on this board.

there is always a chance, too bad stink got too high and mighty for us, or he'd post in this section once in a while :cry:

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PostPosted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 10:35 pm 
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crosscheck wrote:
Puckhead wrote:
I love how you posted this thinking you might get a serious response from someone on this board.

there is always a chance, too bad stink got too high and mighty for us, or he'd post in this section once in a while :cry:


I dont completely blame the guy.

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PostPosted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 10:37 pm 
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If I said the Versus network, would that be wrong?

They ARE seemingly coming out of Bolivian(MJeff's word)

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PostPosted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 10:38 pm 
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crosscheck wrote:
Puckhead wrote:
I love how you posted this thinking you might get a serious response from someone on this board.

there is always a chance, too bad stink got too high and mighty for us, or he'd post in this section once in a while :cry:

If you don't see hockey exactly as Stink sees it, then he thinks you are hockey-retarded or posting in the wrong section.

I was swamped at work last couple of days, never saw this until now.

Wow, you covered a half-dozen topics in that post, but I'll try my best. The Avs have been a HUGE surprise, but right now they are riding an extremely hot goalie. I think they can maintain enough to make playoffs, but we've seen Anderson's act before - he'll fade.

Buffalo is off to a great start, but it's still early, and like you said, tough division. Detroit will make the playoffs - they are scuffling, but they'll be better. You weren't alone in your prediction of their fade, however.

Phoenix is a non-factor in my mind. Give them time.

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PostPosted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 10:39 pm 
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Regular Reader wrote:
They ARE seemingly coming out of Bolivian(MJeff's word)

Mtyson, not Mjeff. Still hilarious every time though. :lol:

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PostPosted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 10:41 pm 
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spanky wrote:
Regular Reader wrote:
They ARE seemingly coming out of Bolivian(MJeff's word)

Mtyson, not Mjeff. Still hilarious every time though. :lol:


Good catch...I apologi...

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PostPosted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 12:04 pm 
I'd vote for the Lanche, but on the opposite end of the spectrum, the Dead Things having the same record as the Thrashers right now is pretty hard to believe.

Oh and the Leafs........they've already entered fun bad territory.


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PostPosted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 12:08 pm 
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crosscheck wrote:
Puckhead wrote:
I love how you posted this thinking you might get a serious response from someone on this board.

there is always a chance, too bad stink got too high and mighty for us, or he'd post in this section once in a while :cry:



Even though he was a snob I enjoyed reading his posts.

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PostPosted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 12:24 pm 
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NHL regular season matters not very much. The NHL season prior to January means even less.


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PostPosted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 12:45 pm 
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Baby McNown wrote:
the Dead Things having the same record as the Thrashers right now is pretty hard to believe.



Franzen's been out and will be out til after the NHL takes a couples weeks off for the Olympics (Feb 15 to March 1st).

Filppula's also out for a couple months.

Regardless of what seed they end up in the playoffs, Red Wings will still be the favorites to return to the Stanley Cup finals out of the Western Conference come April, too much Stanley Cup playoff experience on that team for them not to be.


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PostPosted: Mon Nov 02, 2009 10:59 am 
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NearWessSideHussra wrote:
Baby McNown wrote:
the Dead Things having the same record as the Thrashers right now is pretty hard to believe.



Franzen's been out and will be out til after the NHL takes a couples weeks off for the Olympics (Feb 15 to March 1st).

Filppula's also out for a couple months.

Regardless of what seed they end up in the playoffs, Red Wings will still be the favorites to return to the Stanley Cup finals out of the Western Conference come April, too much Stanley Cup playoff experience on that team for them not to be.

I disagree, unless they upgrade their goaltending anytime soon, they will not be going anywhere. They don't have the firepower to get through the regular season this year to cover up Osgood's average play. It's getting to the point where I think they will have trouble making the playoffs without making a major move.

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PostPosted: Mon Nov 02, 2009 11:45 am 
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Buffalo. Wait until you see Tyler Myers.

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PostPosted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 3:36 pm 
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Gloopan Kuratz wrote:
Buffalo. Wait until you see Tyler Myers.



I think you spoke too soon. Just read that Buffalo is souring on the rook after he cost them a game recently with a bad turnover.

He's a rookie so I don't know why that wouldn't be expected occassionally, but apparently they aren't too happy with him lately and he might get sent down.

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PostPosted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 3:46 pm 
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shakes wrote:
Gloopan Kuratz wrote:
Buffalo. Wait until you see Tyler Myers.



I think you spoke too soon. Just read that Buffalo is souring on the rook after he cost them a game recently with a bad turnover.

He's a rookie so I don't know why that wouldn't be expected occassionally, but apparently they aren't too happy with him lately and he might get sent down.


The turnover was flukey.

He passed the 9 game tryout so they can't send him back to Juniors. He's a stud.

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PostPosted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 4:04 pm 
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Gloopan Kuratz wrote:
shakes wrote:
Gloopan Kuratz wrote:
Buffalo. Wait until you see Tyler Myers.



I think you spoke too soon. Just read that Buffalo is souring on the rook after he cost them a game recently with a bad turnover.

He's a rookie so I don't know why that wouldn't be expected occassionally, but apparently they aren't too happy with him lately and he might get sent down.


The turnover was flukey.

He passed the 9 game tryout so they can't send him back to Juniors. He's a stud.



I haven't seen him in the pros yet, but I watched all the Memorial Cup games and he was definitely a man amongst boys out there.

Once he fills out that frame its gonna be scary.

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PostPosted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 4:57 pm 
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He looks slow, but two strides and he's anywhere on the ice. He's fun to watch. Even scored the winning shootout goal the other night.

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PostPosted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 5:02 pm 
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Osgood stunk last regular season too. He's a playoff goalie. No way the Red Wings miss the Stanley Cup playoffs. Hell, despite missing Franzen and Filppula they are tied with the Blackhawks right now and the Blackhawks have had an easier schedule.


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PostPosted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 1:00 pm 
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NearWessSideHussra wrote:
Osgood stunk last regular season too. He's a playoff goalie. No way the Red Wings miss the Stanley Cup playoffs. Hell, despite missing Franzen and Filppula they are tied with the Blackhawks right now and the Blackhawks have had an easier schedule.

Yeah, I don't think they will miss the playoffs, but this is the first year in a long time where there is possibility that they could. There are rumors that the Wings are interested in Roloson or Biron from the islanders, either one of those two would make them a lot better in net...

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PostPosted: Sun Nov 29, 2009 11:04 am 
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Well, lets see how the Avs do without their top two goal scorers. Hejduk is out with a knee injury and Jones is out for the year with a torn ACL.

Anyone surprised that Calgary is tied with the Hawks for points right now considering how badly the Hawks have whipped them?

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PostPosted: Mon Nov 30, 2009 12:37 pm 
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Puckhead wrote:
Well, lets see how the Avs do without their top two goal scorers. Hejduk is out with a knee injury and Jones is out for the year with a torn ACL.

Anyone surprised that Calgary is tied with the Hawks for points right now considering how badly the Hawks have whipped them?

:lol: they already fell out of first place, but I bet that they still make the playoffs...

I'm not surprised by Calgary, they are a damn good club, Chicago just seems to own them for reasons unknown to me...


Related article by the Daddy of the Puck about offseason blunders, including two signings of former blackhawks:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_d ... nhl,205548

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We are now sufficiently deep into the season that we can start looking at whether or not a team's offseason moves have worked out for the best. If nothing else, it will give you a reason to feel really good or really bad about the team you have chosen to support.

To be honest, a shocking number of huge decisions have turned out to be very, very good. The Dany Heatley(notes) trade is working out for everyone, Phil Kessel's(notes) been lights-out in Toronto, Jay Bouwmeester(notes) has helped the Flames' defense be not-terrible and Ryan Smyth(notes) was dominant in LA before going down with an injury.
But those aren't as interesting as some of the massive blunders GMs across the league have made in acquiring what they thought would be exceptional players only to find they got a dud.
What, for example, were the Edmonton Oilers thinking?

[Coming up: Jordin Tootoo's(notes) No. 1 and so is Corey Perry(notes); Angelo Esposito's(notes) old trick knee is acting up again while Patrice Bergeron's(notes) (unspecified) is bothering him; Miller's save-of-the-year candidate; the Wings revel in beating St. Louis in a shootout; the Sharks' power play goes in search of the Washington Generals; the Habs get a participant trophy; and the Leafs hire Mocha Joe to mediate a dispute.]

Edmonton could have re-signed Dwayne Roloson(notes) on the cheap for a year or two and gotten a somewhat effective goalie. Instead Steve Tambellini gave a four-year, $15 million deal to injury-prone, 36-year-old Nikolai Khabibulin(notes), who couldn't even out-duel Cristobal Huet(notes) for a starting job in Chicago.

The results, of course, have been predictable. He's played 18 games with a 3.03/.909 line, and -- guess what? -- now he's hurt, leaving the Oilers to rely upon Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers, who is somehow even worse. And jeez, that Mike Comrie(notes) deal worked out too, didn't it? I still don't know how people thought this team would make the playoffs.
But it's hard to have done a worse job than the Canadiens did over on the other side of Canada. Mike Cammalleri has been just fine, but Scott Gomez(notes), Brian Gionta(notes) and Hal Gill(notes) were hilariously bad decisions, especially considering what the Habs gave up to get Gomez in the first place, not that anyone thought the Habs were getting their loonie's worth when they signed anyway. And here I would also list some of the Maple Leafs' offseason acquisitions like Mike Komisarek(notes) and Francois Beauchemin(notes), but that'd feel too much like kicking the slow kid.

The Rangers, too, have problems. Sure, their three big free agent signings of Marian Gaborik(notes), Vinny Prospal and Ales Kotalik(notes) are leading the team in scoring, but by acquiring them, the Rangers went all-in on a defense made up of two rookies, two decent second-pairing guys, and Michal Roszival and Wade Redden(notes). Couldn't have invested $11.6 million in defense? Offense is nice but when you score better than league average and then allow more than you score, that's a very, very bad thing.

Speaking of Gaborik, Minnesota replaced him with Martin Havlat(notes) which seemed like a good idea at the time. Consider, then, that Kyle Brodziak(notes) has twice as many goals as Havlat, ye fantasy owners, and weep.
And finally, what was going through Ken Holland's head when he let Marian Hossa(notes) walk, and then replaced him with Jason Williams(notes) and Todd Bertuzzi(notes)? Keeping the team together is important, I guess, but you can't know you're going to let a 40-goal guy go and not have some sort of contingency plan. That blunder is a huge reason they're 10th in the West right now.

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