NHL 2010-2011 Thread

  • Thread starter Max Powers
  • 389 comments
  • 21,743 views
http://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/2...from-the-1997-2004-nhl-entry-drafts#storyjump

this article sums up how I feel about it. it shows the 25-30 picks from 1997-2004. chances are pretty slim that the first rounder is going to turn out any better than versteeg.

they had a very young 20-30 goal 50-60 point guy and they give him away for the chance to get somebody as good as him. I am not impressed by burke's performance on this one.

Also, I wish BB would have taken a flyer on Michael Grabner this summer. He's an animal right now, 8 goals in his last 4, 16 in his last 15 and 25 already on the year as a rookie. Florida put him on waivers and NYI snatched him, and he's outscoring every single player on their team goal wise (not sure about points). He's a lot of fun to watch and is fast as hell.
 
Last edited:
Max Powers
http://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/2...from-the-1997-2004-nhl-entry-drafts#storyjump

this article sums up how I feel about it. it shows the 25-30 picks from 1997-2004. chances are pretty slim that the first rounder is going to turn out any better than versteeg.

they had a very young 20-30 goal 50-60 point guy and they give him away for the chance to get somebody as good as him. I am not impressed by burke's performance on this one.

Also, I wish BB would have taken a flyer on Michael Grabner this summer. He's an animal right now, 8 goals in his last 4, 16 in his last 15 and 25 already on the year as a rookie. Florida put him on waivers and NYI snatched him, and he's outscoring every single player on their team goal wise (not sure about points). He's a lot of fun to watch and is fast as hell.
Click to expand...

Its pretty clear that Versteeg wasn't happy here and he wanted out. You can't keep a player who wants out, besides the point that he was a 3rd liner on our team. He didn't fit here, especially Burke's top 6 bottom 6 model Getting a 1st round pick and a 3rd round pick for a 3rd liner is very good value, and IMO that was probably the best offer on the table for him and if we didn't pounce on the opportunity, the Flyers would have got someone else.

As for Grabner, there was nothing we could have done, the Islanders had the first chance to take him and they did. We have enough small, skilled forwards, not to mention Grabner is soft and European. Its always easy to look in hindsight and say we should have got someone who is doing well now, but Grabner sucked at that time, and there is a reason Florida waived him.
 
Les Canadiens are stinkin it up against the Oilers right now... Crappy night for hockey, my team got shelled 6-1, and now the Habs are losing to the :censored:ing Oilers.
 
Also, Wisniewski took a puck in the face. Big injury. Yes we did get Mara, but Gill, and Markov are still out as well. And not to mention Subban is making mistakes aswell. We could be in big trouble now.
 
Subban had 29 mins TOI, Weber and Hamrlik with 27, Picard with 22, Nash 8, and The Wiz 3 before the injury.

When Yannick Weber is playing 27 minutes a night, and PK Subban has to play 29, there's a problem. It should be better for the Heritage Classic though, Gill will be back, Mara will be in (best beard of all time), hopefully the Wiz will be back and the defense will somewhat resemble an NHL team. Guys like Spacek and Gill get ripped on a lot, but you can see what happens without them.
 
:(

That's how I feel right now.

We'll miss you Tomas Kaberle. A true gentleman and professional on and off the ice. He was my last link to my childhood memories of watching Leaf teams that actually made the playoffs.

I hate Boston with a passion. But they're now my 2nd choice to go all the way in the East if (when?) Toronto misses the playoffs, just so Kaberle has his shot at a cup.

At least they got a good return for him...
 
It is sad to see him go, I've been a fan of his since I since I was a little kid, but he was gone at the end of the year anyways. Colbourne looks like a pretty good prospect, and its pretty remarkable that Burke has managed to land 2 first round picks in just over a week. If the bruins and flyers both go out first round (which they won't), that would be pretty awesome, we'd have 2 picks in the first 22 or so.

At least he agreed to go and we got significant assets back, unlike Sundin who said "I don't believe in rentals" and then left at the end of the year for nothing, before signing as a rental player with the 'nucks the next year.
 
Yeah, seeing Sundin go like that broke my heart. Besides Felix Potvin, Sundin was the first Maple Leaf who I really idolized as a little kid. I'd hate to think that he did it out of spite, since like you said, he left as a rental player anyway...but maybe hearing that he wasn't in the future plans of HIS team made him act in such a way. I've forgiven him since lol, but it pained me to see him in a canucks jersey at the time.

Oh yeah and I was so wound up about Kaberle winning a cup that I forgot that Boston's playoff position affects the leaf's pick lol. I hope they tank, Kaberle can win his cup when he resigns with TO this summer (pipe dream, but it would be awesome)
 
Max Powers
Yeah, seeing Sundin go like that broke my heart. Besides Felix Potvin, Sundin was the first Maple Leaf who I really idolized as a little kid. I'd hate to think that he did it out of spite, since like you said, he left as a rental player anyway...but maybe hearing that he wasn't in the future plans of HIS team made him act in such a way. I've forgiven him since lol, but it pained me to see him in a canucks jersey at the time.

Oh yeah and I was so wound up about Kaberle winning a cup that I forgot that Boston's playoff position affects the leaf's pick lol. I hope they tank, Kaberle can win his cup when he resigns with TO this summer (pipe dream, but it would be awesome)
Click to expand...

Its good either if the Bruins are out first round or if they make it to the finals, because the conditional draft pick is a 2nd rounder if they make it to the finals or if Kaberle re-signs in Boston.

I feel bad for the PK units on whoever Boston faces in the playoffs, with Kaberle teeing up Chara's slapshot from the point. Then again, people said that about Kaberle feeding Phaneuf's shot from the point, and Phaneuf has what, 4 goals as a Leaf?
 
Last week Phaneuf scored his first goal in the ACC in over a year :/

I imagine it will be a bit more successful with Chara as he's more of a proven player than Phaneuf so far. Besides, I'm starting to think Phaneuf would have trouble hitting the net in a soccer goal even...
 
Wow, the Kaberle saga is finally over. That's a pretty good return I think, worst case scenario for the Leafs is if the Flyers and Bruins play in the Conference final. If the Habs play the Bruins in the first round, I honestly think we could win. The Habs have won 3 of 4 aganist the Bruins this year, and I think with Gill, Spacek, Wisniewski and now Mara back in the lineup I think they could beat the Bruins. They've made some good trades, and now have one of the best top pairings in hockey (Chara-Kaberle), but I still have confidence in the Habs, it's just a gut feeling that they'd be able to pull off a series win over them.


On Colborne, if he pans out to his potential, you Leafs fans could be in luck. 6'5" 216, and when he fills out that huge frame, look out. A big, skilled, blue chip forward prospect is not something that the Leafs have had in a long long time (or the Canadiens for that matter, besides Lars Eller who isn't quite what I'd call blue chip)
 
Heritage Classic today at 6 EST! Cammalleri, Gill, and Wisniewski will be back, so hopefully the Canadiens can break their recent losing funk.
 
Last edited:
I know! :D I'm excited for it! :D After the 500 and the Chicago/Pittsburgh game... Already saw the Wings get it done in Snowy Minnesota. :D But I get the Versus announcers. :grumpy: --- Randy
 
Last edited:
I'm pumped for this game, our best players returning, Carey Price starting. Sunshine and rainbows, birds singing a song. The fact that the Flames suck (record doesn't suggest that). I predict a 5-2 Montreal win, Carey Price makes 39 saves, Desharnais gets 2 goals, 1 assist and game-winning goal.
 
Awesome, Flames win. At this rate, I'm thinking they'll make the playoffs, but they've been riding Kipprusoff so much, he's gonna burn out in the playoffs, which happens every year.. oh well, I'm just happy the habs lost :D
 
4-0 loss. Great job Habs...

At the very least, Paul Mara looked good, as did Cammalleri. Montreal's downfall in that game was trying to play a finesse game, they tried to use speed and slick passes on crappy ice. The Flames were smart and played a simple dump and chase and banged away, and that style was much better suited to the ice surface.
 
Hockey is an extremely fast sport and probably the most difficult to ref. Having said that, some of the calls they make are beyond brutal.

Especially when Kerry Fraser ignored that Gretzky high stick on Gilmour. I wasn't even born when that happened, but I will never forgive Kerry Fraser, especially because he keeps coming up with pathetic lame excuses instead of admitting he screwed up.
 
Well the Trade deadline stuff is really heating up, Johnson for Stewart, Kaberle trade, Goligoski for Neal and Niskanen, lots of deal going on. It's exciting, that's for sure.

I can't imagine Montreal will make any sort of big move before the deadline, they're not good enough to make a real run at the cup this year, so unless it's a real solid trade which will help for the future, it'll be a waste of assets IMO.
 
Most of the big deals happened well in advance of the deadline this year...

You can count me among the disillusioned Leafs fans who still think they're making it to the playoffs. They were 4 points back, but Carolina and Buffalo both won last night putting the gap back to 6. A win over the Pens would go a long way tonight.

Reimer is back and rested tonight, and the Pens are putting an AHL roster out there, so I'm hoping for the best.

who thinks the leafs will make the cut when it's all said and done?
 
Max Powers
Most of the big deals happened well in advance of the deadline this year...

You can count me among the disillusioned Leafs fans who still think they're making it to the playoffs. They were 4 points back, but Carolina and Buffalo both won last night putting the gap back to 6. A win over the Pens would go a long way tonight.

Reimer is back and rested tonight, and the Pens are putting an AHL roster out there, so I'm hoping for the best.

who thinks the leafs will make the cut when it's all said and done?
Click to expand...

I know it sounds weird for a Habs fan to be saying this, but I'm really pulling for the Leafs to make the playoffs. It'd really be incredible if they were to pull it off, and Montreal showed everyone last year what can happen if you make it by the skin of your teeth riding a hot goalie. I just can't hate the Leafs right now, they're just a team full of rejects and young unestablished players playing really well as a group. Besides Grabovski, Phaneuf, and Lupul, there's really no player on the Leafs that I dislike. It's a weird feeling, to be pulling for the Leafs...


I think they certainly have a chance. They're playing way above their heads, but they do have a bit of a mountain to climb. It's not impossible by any means, but I think it will be tough for the Leafs to make it. If you guys scrape in in 8th place, would you mind injuring a couple Flyers before you get beat out? :lol: Like I said before, if Montreal gets Pittsburgh or Tampa Bay, I'm confident with Montreal's chances. Before I thought we'd have the Bruins number, but now I'm not so sure, I'd put it at about 50/50 odds. As far as Montreal beating the Flyers, it isn't happening.
 
I'll admit that I don't follow the NHL very well at all but I've been a Kings fan since I learned about the NHL as a kid. My older brother played hockey and I think we had the only neighborhood in So Cal that played roller hockey in the street. However, I don't really get many chances to follow the NHL faithfully, and a lame laundry list of reasons as to why I rarely watch hockey anymore, but I still root for the home team and try to get over to Staples when I get the opportunities.

Anyways, being the savvy followers of the NHL that you are, what do you guys think of LA's chances this year? If I was reading the paper correctly the other day, they nabbed some big LW--Jenner--in a trade, correct? What's your guys' take on that?

The way I understand that it is that the Kings have a relatively young but talented team, so they need some polish and before they'll be able to make a run at the cup and then maybe last as a contender with that core group (Quick, Brown, Kopitar, Doughty). Am I on target here?


--------
PS- If you have MLB questions, fire away! That's my sport! :) I like to thinnk that Ihave a pretty accurate read on the NL and enough general AL knowledge to talk about the goings-on proficiently enough.
 
The Kings are right on the cusp of making the playoffs right now, holding down the 8th seed, the West is tough though.

Penner from Edmonton wasn't a bad addition though I don't see him as a huge difference maker TBH.

If they make the playoffs, anything can happen, but with such strong teams atop the east and west this year, I don't see a 7-8 seed making any sort of run. Kopitar is awesome though, and the Kings have a great group of prospects, including the player all of Toronto covets, Brayden Schenn.

Talking about baseball depresses me because I'm a Pittsburgh Pirates fan lol

______

2 periods down in the Pens/Leafs game. Right now the Pens are playing like the better team and are up 2-1. Grabovski and Kessel began making some plays towards the end of the second...these guys definitely miss Kaberle's ability to make the first pass though. They're having a hell of a time trying to take the offensive zone against an overachieving Pens defense.

Time to pull out these 2 points, playoff chances are taking a huge hit if they don't win tonight.
 
As far as the Kings go, they're a legit team, and I feel that they're still a little bit away from being a real contender, but they're still one of the top teams in the league. Kopitar is a superstar player (I'm still raging that he was picked 6 spots after Carey Price), and Doughty is going to be one of the top 5 defensemen in the league for the next 10 years. He had a fantastic year last year, was IMO the best Canadian defensemen at the Olympics (at 20 years old no less), and a Norris Trophy nomination (not to mention 59 points!). He's regressed a tad this year, but he's still played very well and he's only 21. I can't imagine just how good both Kopitar (23 yrs old) and Doughty (21 yrs old) will be when they're in their late 20's in their physical prime. Brayden Schenn is waiting in the wings, he's got serious potential, and Kopitar-Schenn is going to be one hell of a 1-2 punch as far as top 6 centers go. Thomas Hickey is another defenseman with good potential waiting to make the move to the NHL, and the Kings have a great tandem of young goalies, in Jonathan Quick and Jonathan Bernier. The Kings have a bit of seasoning to be done, but as their rookies develop (Schenn becoming a good #2 center is essential), you'll start to see this team climbing higher and higher in the standings year after year. Oops, almost forgot about Jack Johnson, another young blossoming D-man, sure to be in the midst of a cup run. God the Kings are stacked with young talent.



The team gave up a good D prospect in Colton Teubert, as well as a first rounder for Dustin Penner, that's a high price but Penner does bring a good element of physicality to the lineup. Dustin Brown is a very physical forward already for the Kings, he's been in the top 3 in hits in the NHL for the past few years, but at 6'0" 209 lb he's not a huge physical force. Dustin Penner is exactly that, he's listed at 6'4" 245lb, and is built like a brick :censored:house. He's a bit lazy, and he's not the fastest guy, but he's good for 50 points, and could maybe hit 60+ points with a good team like LA. The thing about Penner, is that while 50 points may seem somewhat low for a top line forward, it's the type of points they are that makes all the difference. He's your prototypical power forward, and next to Kopitar he could flourish. Ryan Smyth was a great compliment to Kopitar in years past, and Penner is everything Smyth was, but he's 6'4" 245lb. He's 28 years old, just entering into his prime years, and he'll be a great asset for the playoffs this year. His style will be even better suited to the playoff games, because the relaxed officiating means he can be even more of a beast. The biggest knock on Penner is his reputation for lazy play at times, and he is pretty slow. But you'd be hard pressed to find a better realistic option to add grit, size, strength, and skill to LA's lineup.


I'd wager that with the addition of Penner, the Kings will probably make the playoffs, and could finish as high as 4th, or scrape in in 8th place. The Western Conference is really good compared to the East, and the upper echelon of teams are all really good. The Kings are a dark horse contender, and I think they could definitely knock off any team in the West (although Detroit and Vancouver are in beast mode this year), but I can't see them advancing past the 2nd round yet. However, Montreal was supposed to be done after 1 round last year, but they beat the Capitals so anything is possible. You as an LA Kings fan have a ton to be excited and hopeful about, your team is on the cusp of a good playoff run, but there's still a bit of developing to be done first.


_______________________________________________




And would you look at that, those Leafers won it in OT. I'm really pulling for them, I legitimately hope they can make the playoffs. It'd be a nice little Cinderella story :lol:. And I do feel pretty bad for the Leafs fans, not having made the playoffs since the lockout...
 
Last edited:
Awesome, thanks guys! You can tell I don't follow closely enough, I got Penner's name wrong! :dunce:

It was going to be a resolution of mine to watch more hockey and basketball this year. I got half of that down by watching a few Clipper games, but nothing near as to how much baseball I absorb.

---------------
Pirates fan? :ouch: I feel for you. That franchise doesn't even seem to be trying, but they made a fantastic trade last season with the Dodgers:

Pirates - Octavio Dotel (Closing Pitcher) for Dodgers' - James McDonald (Starting Pitcher) and Andrew Lambo (Outfielder)

Dotel only had a half-season left in his contract and the Pirates really didn't need him. McDonald and Lambo are both very young and have huge upsides (but gotta watch the 'roids on Lambo - he was suspended for substance abuse twice). Even if it were McDonald for Dotel straight up, still a fantastic move baseball wise and payroll. Both players make far less than 1MM annually combined.
--------------
Sorry, couldn't help it. I'll keep the next baseball comment in the baseball threads!
 
I'm in the opposite situation as you, I played baseball for a while when I was younger, and I really like the sport. I'm a casual Blue Jays fan but I'd really like to watch more games and get to know the sport better. I miss playing too :(

Although I have no interest at all in Basketball :P


EDIT: Again, on Penner, I raved about him pretty hardcore in my last post, but I agree with Max in that he's not going to be the difference to put the Kings over the top. He's a very good addition IMO, but I think the Kings playoff hopes are going to rest on Brayden Schenn's development. Once they have Kopitar-Schenn as their top 2 centres, look out.
 
Pirates fan? :ouch: I feel for you. That franchise doesn't even seem to be trying, but they made a fantastic trade last season with the Dodgers:

Pirates - Octavio Dotel (Closing Pitcher) for Dodgers' - James McDonald (Starting Pitcher) and Andrew Lambo (Outfielder)

Dotel only had a half-season left in his contract and the Pirates really didn't need him. McDonald and Lambo are both very young and have huge upsides (but gotta watch the 'roids on Lambo - he was suspended for substance abuse twice). Even if it were McDonald for Dotel straight up, still a fantastic move baseball wise and payroll. Both players make far less than 1MM annually combined.
--------------
Click to expand...

I just look at the Pirates with complete indifference these days.

i can't support a team financially that hasn't even had a winning season in 18+ years. I was 5 or 6 the last time these clowns were even playing above .500 ball and I'm 25 now. If I'm cheering for a baseball team, it will always be the Pirates...but after so many years of believing that eventually they'd spend some money and put a contender out there, your patience runs dry.

It's sad because all the kids growing up now don't even remember when the pirates were relevant. my two younger cousins who are nuts about baseball are Yankees and Redsox fans respectively because in their words "dude, the pirates suck ass!" At least I got to watch Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla, Andy Van Slyke and co for a few years before they started sucking.

and BACK TO HOCKEY

HUGE win for the leafs over my hometown pens last night. I know I'm pretty hard on him, but Dion Phaneuf made the play that led up to Grabovski's game winner. I had no idea dude could move the puck like that. Reimer let up a softie for the first goal, but only let up one more the whole rest of the game, and made some big saves when it counted.

Pens played the better game, but the leafs came away with the win...i'll take it.
 
Why not? They're hot at the right time, and just took down the flyers tonight.

They're just as likely to nab the 8th seed as Carolina and Buffalo.

We'll see how delusional I am in a few weeks, anyway. I'd rather be delusional than so down on my team that i give up on them in the heart of a playoff race...
 

Latest Posts

Back