I watched about an hour and a half of the draft yesterday, predictable first pick by the Oilers to go with Nail Yakupov, I was hoping that Anaheim would pick Filip Forsberg but they went with Hampus Lindholm which was a shock, but he does look extremely well conditioned, his fitness levels looked incredible.
NHL 2011-2012 season
- Thread starter Tribec
- Start date
Oh nice work by the Oilers to pick up Justin Schultz, another cog in this perpetual rebuild. If we can add another D-man tomorrow, someone with experience and perhaps a new netminder, we'd be sorted for next season.
Some signings have been finalized, but nothing really major so far.. will be interesting to see what happens with guys like Suter and Parise..
Love what I've seen from Lindholm. Very composed and mature defenseman with good size and skating.
Love what I've seen from Lindholm. Very composed and mature defenseman with good size and skating.
Yeah I am really liking the look of Lindholm, could turn out to be a great move by the Ducks. He describes himself as a D man who likes to get forward and is a playmaker, he looks good.
The Oilers picking up the Yak was always going to happen, they have a ton of D talent coming through which will start to come through in a year or so time. They could afford another top end talent up front as if things don't go right with some of the D coming through we can trade one of the forwards and not really lose too much.
My concern for though is how far away are Roy and Bunz from the show, either of them coming through has to be a starter. As much as Dubnyk is progressing I don't think he'll be a game changing number 1, more like a steady eddie. We need a top notch netminder and then we'll see a difference.
Mind you the potential of the Oilers forwards is positively frightening.
My concern for though is how far away are Roy and Bunz from the show, either of them coming through has to be a starter. As much as Dubnyk is progressing I don't think he'll be a game changing number 1, more like a steady eddie. We need a top notch netminder and then we'll see a difference.
Mind you the potential of the Oilers forwards is positively frightening.
Jesus.. the Wild just got a whole lot better
You don't say!!! Wow, the NW was already tough enough but holy cow...
98m each over 13 years... so roughly $7m cap hit a season. That's some hit and looking at Koivu and Heatly's deal the 4 of them are combinging for 40% of the cap if I've seen right.
I wonder what will happen if the CBA reduces the cap hit down, Minni could be in some trouble, but good luck to them. They always used to beat the Oilers anyway, no matter how bad or good they are. So no changes then next season.
I read somewhere that all contracts in the league will automatically be downgraded a few % if the cap goes down. Freakin Wild now they get even more annoying to play against but glad Parise and Suter finally signed so the free agent and trade market opens up again.
Yeah the NW looks damn tough and rather interesting all of a sudden.. Too bad I can hardly ever stay awake to catch those games anymore.
Wild get Parise and Suter while Dallas sign Jagr and Whitney and traded Ribeiro. Easy to see what directions each club is headed. FFS, two forty-year olds?
Granted I haven't followed the sport that close since the strike season a few years back.
Granted I haven't followed the sport that close since the strike season a few years back.
LeBrun is saying the both of them have $25m signing bonus
$10m paid now
$10m July 1st 2013
$5m July 1st 2014
The first $10m is protected against roll back or lock-out.
Base salaries of $2m, freakin $12m for the first 2 years for the pair of them. OK, I know that they are looking to push for the cup and it will seem to be money well spent if they do win it, but it isn't a certainty. I'm sure Heatly and Koivu will be looking to get something similar when they get close to ending the contracts.
$10m paid now
$10m July 1st 2013
$5m July 1st 2014
The first $10m is protected against roll back or lock-out.
Base salaries of $2m, freakin $12m for the first 2 years for the pair of them. OK, I know that they are looking to push for the cup and it will seem to be money well spent if they do win it, but it isn't a certainty. I'm sure Heatly and Koivu will be looking to get something similar when they get close to ending the contracts.
Teemu Selanne has decided to sign another one year deal with the ducks, good news.
So.. lockout?
Really cool to see Landeskog being named the youngest captain in NHL history btw. Love that kids game and attitude.
There has been quite a few discussions on various Oilers forums suggesting that we drop Horcroft as captain and install Hall as the C. It isn't going to be long before it happens, but I'm not sure the Oilers need a "young" captain right now, they need someone with a little expereince to help the youngsters progress beyond, last or second last place.
Anyway enough talk of lock-outs etc...
Let's remember those that died on this day last year in that awful plane crash that wiped out Locomotiv Yaroslavl....
demitra
They will be missed.
Back on topic, who do you guys think are the favorites to win it this year?
I think a lot of teams have a good chance
EAST
Pittsburgh
New York
Philadelphia
Washington
WEST
LA Kings
Minessota
Vancouver
St Louis
But if I had to pick one I'd have to go with Kings as the champions and Kopitar again top scorer (Playoffs)
With Stamkos and Malkin battling it out for most points in the regular season.
I would be surprised if Minnesota even made the playoffs. They had the second worst goal differential in the entire league. Two players aren't going to make them a contender.
two immense players injected straight into their 1st line should be enough of an improvement to secure them a spot in the playoffs, and when the playoffs start anything can happen.
Playoffs in the NHL are way harder to predict compared to NBA. In the NBA you'll rarely see a lower seeded team upset a higher seeded one, over the course of the series the higher rated team usualy ends up winning, while in the NHL that's not realy the case, the outcomes aren't nearly as predictable there.
You'd never expect the Heat or OKC to lose in this year's 1st round because you know they're going to be at the top come the end of the regular season and whichever team they do end up getting (atleast in the 1st round) will be seriously outmatched, but in the NHL I really couldn't put my money on either #1 or #2 seeded team in either conference.
Parise and Suter are B+ players, not nearly enough to overcome such a bad team. They might get a 7/8 seed but they won't do anything in the playoffs.
Parise is definitely an "A" list player, you're not convincing me otherwise
.Suter I admittedly didn't watch that many games of him, but I've seen some highlights and read a lot of things about him and several people's opinions and they all rate him very very highly.
I'm not saying they're gonna be champions, but with Heatley and Koivu also in their ranks they should have a decent amount of firepower up front and an improved defense.
The Kings were seeded 8th last year and then completely dominated the entire playoffs, granted Sutter did take over half way through the season and ever since he took over they have steadily been increasing and were able to fulfill their potential when push came to shove.
Nobody expected Kings to finish as low as they did because of the talent on their squad, but at the same time then noone expected the Kings to win it after finishing 8th in the west.
It's only after they raped Vancouver and St Louis that people started believing in them (apart from us Kings fans).
A list forwards are Datsyuk, Malkin, Crosby, Stamkos etc. Parise is not on that level.
Datsyuk has been in decline for the past 2 seasons, still a terrific player, but no longer one of the very best.
I agree about Crosby, Malkin and Stamkos ofcourse, but it's not like they're THAT much better currently than the likes of Ovechkin, Sedin brothers, Kopitar, Parise, etc.
I know you're gonna say "but Kopitar doesn't score as much as Crosby/Malkin/Stamkos", but he's constantly been the best scorer on the Kings team which had to go through a really tough rebuilding period with the league's worst attack. I'd say wait till this season's over and then quote me on this, because I can guarantee the Kings offense will be much improved compared to last year now that they got a great coach and more players capable of creating something.
I'd say Malkin, Crosby and Stamkos right now are "A+", while H. Sedin, D. Sedin, Kopitar, Ovechkin, Giroux, Parise, Kane and Datsyuk are "A" list.
Parise has constantly been one of the main pieces of the Devils team ever since he began playing there, and he's a great scorer, but was unlucky with injuries a while back and that's why he didn't have as many points as some previous years, but he's still a damn good player, one I'd have in my team in a second.
Datsyuk hasn't declined much. I'm a Red Wings fan so I watch most of the games. He is still easily the best defensive forward and provides much of the creativity our aging set of forwards as well.
I think there are Datsyuk, Malkin, Crosby who are pretty much HoF locks and Stamkos who will likely be there some day as well. The others I regard as just very good players during this period of the league. In the last generation you had Modano, Sakic, Yzerman, Forsberg and then below them guys like Kariya, Yashin, Bure, Lindros, LeClair.
Parise is a very good player but I'd still rather have Zetterberg, for example, and I don't think Zetterberg is in the top tier.
The Kings went on a great run but they were an anomaly. Hockey is the sport where one player can singlehandedly win a series (Curtis Joseph used to do this all the time for Toronto) but the fact that there is more variance in the NHL playoffs doesn't mean stuff like the Kings will happen often. If I recall correctly, the Kings were one of the best teams in the entire league after the trade deadline.
I think there are Datsyuk, Malkin, Crosby who are pretty much HoF locks and Stamkos who will likely be there some day as well. The others I regard as just very good players during this period of the league. In the last generation you had Modano, Sakic, Yzerman, Forsberg and then below them guys like Kariya, Yashin, Bure, Lindros, LeClair.
Parise is a very good player but I'd still rather have Zetterberg, for example, and I don't think Zetterberg is in the top tier.
The Kings went on a great run but they were an anomaly. Hockey is the sport where one player can singlehandedly win a series (Curtis Joseph used to do this all the time for Toronto) but the fact that there is more variance in the NHL playoffs doesn't mean stuff like the Kings will happen often. If I recall correctly, the Kings were one of the best teams in the entire league after the trade deadline.
Bs have signed all their core players longterm. hate the lockout situation.
I did say Datsyuk was still a hell of a player, just that there's no doubt in my mind he was better than he is currently, and there's nothing wrong with that really, it's bound to happen when you get older.
Kariya definitely had more than enough skill to be as big as Forsberg & co. but was unlucky with injuries and other setbacks, I should know cause I'm "a follower". He was my favorite player when I was little and I used to watch games that my dad recorded for me since staying up till 2 am (when the games usualy start) wasn't an option back then.
Just because it happened doesn't mean it will again, I agree, but it's certainly the first sport I'd point to if we were talking about the outcome being unpredictable.
The Kings were one of the best teams towards the end of the season, they did get better at half point when Sutter was appointed as coach, but he also needed time in order to make them play up to their potential.
And another thing I'd like to add, since you mentioned Datsyuk easily being the best defensive forward, I don't think that's the case honestly.
I mean he COULD still be the best, but it's certainly not a statement that no one would argue.
For example I think Kopitar is one of the best (if not slowly becoming the best) two-way centers in the game. And I bet a lot of other people could make a case for some players that are right up there as well.
You being a Wings fan makes you somewhat biased up to a point, even if you're generaly objective you can't help but feel that little bit better about Wings players, which is one thing I can't exactly plead innocence in either.
I love Kopitar ( duh, Slovenian
), and subsequently love the Kings, and even though I think of myself as being a really fair objective fan in terms of addressing players' qualities, I think everyone tends to see the team/player they cheer for in a bit of a better light than others.You definitely have a point with being biased. I think Datsyuk's three Selke awards help my point but he has fallen off a bit in recent years.
feck you, Gary Bettman.
Dominek Hasek retired today at 47. Thanks for 2002. Legend.
Finally!
F-ing finally!
I've been dying to watch the Kings again
although in all fairness United and the Knicks kept me quite busy, but it's great that I can watch all 3 of my teams again now
I've been dying to watch the Kings again
although in all fairness United and the Knicks kept me quite busy, but it's great that I can watch all 3 of my teams again now
Finally! Never has games against Oilers and Wild felt so exciting
feck sake *sigh* let's go Islan..... feck it.
Burke fired. Was always just a matter of time.
Anybody know of there's any sort of deal on Europe to watch the games yet? Got Center Ice last year, which was cool being able to see every game but it's not HD, so preferred it previously on NASN and then in HD on ESPN America
Lets go Blues!
Premier Sports has the NHL certainly this year, I'm not sure if they have a similar agreement with the NHL as the US channels do, so they have another year added to the current deal because of the lock out.
Is anyone going to get the Fantasy Hockey started?? I've missed it this winter...
If the Oilers can get the players who have been inactive up to speed soon, and a small camp will help, we have a good chance as the kids have been playing so well in the AHL. Yak has been doing alright in the KHL.... Goodness me, I almost feel optimistic about the Oilers for a change.
Haven't seen Kristjan around the Caf for some time, and I wonder if anyone else on here actually has the mental strength required to get the fantasy league started 
He was trying to get someone else to manage the league for years
He was trying to get someone else to manage the league for yearsHaven't seen Kristjan around the Caf for some time, and I wonder if anyone else on here actually has the mental strength required to get the fantasy league started
I daren't it taken me 4 or 5 days to try and figure out (and I've still not done so properly) what a rotisserie style league is, and it's going to take some time to figure out how to best assemble my team with a draft tomorrow.
Me as a commish, it would be a nightmare......
I'm here
And no I will not be renewing the Caf league, sorry.
If someone else wants to, go ahead
And no I will not be renewing the Caf league, sorry.
If someone else wants to, go ahead