Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Damn, that is really crazy/scary about Letang. Hope he recovers and quickly.

PM me your phone number sometime if you're comfortable with that!

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Matty,

I must say Matt Duchene has some wheels. Man, that kid can fly. He's been such an improvement for the Avs team the past two seasons. He's done a lot of work. I know he had a lot of talent at the start but there were some question marks about him. Cool to see that he's put it all together.

Also, sad to hear about Letang. Maybe he'll get a haircut now? Too soon? I'm sorry. I'm a Flyers fan after all.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Right? I had a feeling people weren't taking me seriously when I was talking about his improvement. He's always been fast, but what I've noticed lately is the strength he's added to that quickness. He's starting to be able to shrug off defenders as he breezes past them. You give him or MacKinnon a few feet of open ice to get started (they only need about a stride and a half), and say bye bye. They'll be gone. Duchene has also gotten a lot better in his own zone. Works hard every shift and is a great team guy.

The end of that third period was insane last night. Kudos to Mason for hanging in there.

Being a hockey player I'm always amazed at how fast they are to accelerate. Takes me maybe 3 or 4, and they're doubling my speed in half the time. Very impressive. Duchene is certainly a top tier in that respect from what I've seen of him.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

:thumbsup I actually think MacKinnon might be a faster north-south skater, but Duchene has more mobility, or the ability to maneuver through spaces while still maintaining a high level of speed.

Fun anecdote that may be tl;dnr (and that I may have told already): My dad and I were friends with this hockey player who played for our local minor league club (Utah Grizzlies, this is when they were AHL - they are ECHL now). He lived in Utah during the offseason and was rehabbing an injury. As no other teammates lived in Utah during the offseason, he used to take my dad and I to the rink every morning one summer to skate with him. After he started getting better, we convinced him to pick up the pace a bit by coming and playing in our local men's league one night.

Now, mind you, the biggest knock on this guy - the reason many had said he didn't make it in the NHL - was his skating. He just wasn't very quick by professional standards. But even in our fairly competitive league, he would take a couple half-assed-still-rehabbing strides and outdistance everyone else no problem. Sometimes it takes seeing them as a big fish in a small pond to see just how TALENTED these guys really are.

Yeah the guy who runs the league I'm in has a son who played minors in Sweden for a bit but now he's 31 and just subs when we need somebody extra. Well, he played last week with us and it's just crazy how much better he is. I was pretty happy I was able to keep up with him for a shift or two at the end of the game, but he can still out corner me and his stick handling is just awe inspiring. That, and he had one of the most beautiful wrist shots I've ever seen. Even more than a lot of the pros. Just a real thing of beauty.

I'm here to collect my winnings

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Mid-season prediction: NYR come out of the East to make the Stanley Cup Final.

If the Bruins don't make a trade for a solid veteran defenseman I could see that happening.

I think they will make a move. I'm guessing they don't have a problem grabbing a rental since they are stacked with young defensemen and have their second best defensemen coming back next year off injury. I mean they know they have to make a move it's just a matter of what teams are willing to deal a guy that's about to want to get paid. The playoff situation isn't helping though. So many teams are still in it.

The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

What do Flyers fans think it would take to get Meszaros to Boston? I'm interested in seeing how he plays alongside Chara again in the Olympics, and I think he's a UFA after this season. Plus he has ties to Chiarelli when they were in the Senators organization.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

My guess is they would want some combination of a 5th-7th defenseman OR 6-9 forward and a very late draft pick.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

This is an awesome feature on Capgeek:

http://capgeek.com/ufa-finder/?rentals=on&position_id=D

I hope that link works. It's a "rental" finder. Potential UFAs that are on a team not currently in a playoff spot.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

bruins own

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

I was going to say probably a defenseman prospect.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

I'm over projecting of course, but that's what I think they would want/ask for. They don't have to give Mez away.

2 great nights considering Chara was gone.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Howard looking more like Howard lately. Hope he keeps it up.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Can we all take a second to laugh at the Canucks, real quick?

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

I got to talk to Brian Boucher and Bob Kelly on Thursday about a charity game here in AC that was today. Here was my story from Saturday on the event: http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/s...701739266.html

The event was really cool today. My story for tomorrow is on the firefighters and the ones I talked to were all stoked to be playing with these guys. I was able to chat during the first intermission so I could get my story in and went over to say he to Boosh. Dude is the nicest guy I have ever met and talked to for sure!

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

‏@FriedgeHNIC Russian practice concluding at Bolshoy Rink. Pavel Datsyuk did not participate for Russia

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Wonder if it's just to let him rest coming back from injury or if it's serious. He looked good against FLA and TBL though.

Got my USA games set to record on my Tivo.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

are we going to use spoilers when talking about these games or should I just avoid this thread for the next few weeks?

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Good question. I don't care one way or another. I'll be able to watching Saturday and Sunday games live and I won't care about Thursday's game if we talk about it in here. Will probably be watching in some form on Thursday, radio if they have it, tv if the streaming is free or the game updates on nhl.com.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

I won't be using spoilers I don't think...but then again won't be talking about the U.S games anyway so....

I mean, I can if you all want me to, but wasn't planning on it.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

If you plan on watching it later and still want to come in here I'll use spoilers. I know I'll want to talk about it, or other games, during the day.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Call me a bad fan but when do the men's games start?

EDIT: Looks like Wednesday http://www.nhl.com/ice/schedulebysea...d=nhl:topheads

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

^^ bad fan

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

I just sat here and put them all in my phone. #redeemed

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Is there any doubt MacKinnon is gonna win the Conn Smythe? Dude has had a great rookie year.

The Avalanche have been a much better team than I expected, but I'll be surprised if they go farther than the second round of the playoffs. They need a little more seasoning.