Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

I am too. Building from the net out, which I love. Putting pieces into place that can be built around as well as being built to last. Complementing those pieces with the right group of veterans who demonstrate the right kind of work ethic. Schreibs has plenty of reason to be excited.
This is such a good point, Tim. Whereas a good forward usually hit his peak around 25-ish, really good defensemen hit their stride around 28-30. Defense is such a calculating position, one where no short amount of wisdom is required to play it well. Yes, guys like Subban can win Norris trophies for scoring goals on the PP and throwing an occasional big hit, but the REALLY good defensemen are the ones the casual fan barely notices because they're playing such a calculated, error-free game. That wisdom only comes with time, and lots of it. Lidstrom, Bourque, Blake, Foote, MacInnis, Niedermayer, Leetch, Pronger, Chara, Zubov, and others all had good seasons as young players, but REALLY settled in to becoming GREAT defensemen in their 30s.

Excited to see how some of these young defense studs mature.
It is absolutely possible. Very true.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

An interesting tid-bit of info I was unaware of regarding coach's fines;

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Watched that on TSN.ca this morning. I was surprised by that. I loved TSN showing the top 10 bench outbursts. Crawford and Bowman is still great. Bowman all calm like it's not big deal just having a conversation. Crawford...about to explode.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

https://twitter.com/wyshynski/status/386146909867356161

haha

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

And through it all, Crawford's hair stayed perfect the whole time.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Another great vlogumn by Bucci.

http://espn.go.com/nhl/notebook/_/pa...13/hockey-life

Again, the reason I love Bucci: He's a fan of hockey more than he's a fan of the NHL.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

:lol well he picked CBJ to go to conference finals so I hope he knows what he's talking about

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Just realized Bolland scored 2 against the Flyers.

Are you doing ok Lockman?

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

From what I've heard, Chris and Dave are trying the long distance thing. It hurts to be apart, but I'm sure Chris loves to see Dave doing so well.

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Since I'm right in between Chicago and Toronto, I've let hem rendezvous at my place. I've soundproofed the room though cause...yikes.

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:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol Such passionate souls.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Isles finally open tonight. It's about time. Feel like I can finally join in the season. Nice to see a Rangers loss and watching Roy could be fun. He is gonna be writing a lot checks this year, me thinks.

Daneyko said Isles are the best team in the NY area. I'll be shocked if that turns out to be true but man, I hope he is right.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

:lol Lol :lol :lol :lol

You guys are brutal.

On the subject of defensemen--I actually see them as a poor man's NFL quarterback. They have such a workload defensively to figure out the coverages and the matchups--and then God forbid if they are a powerplay quarterback.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

So many chances in front for the Kings through 1. With 18 SOG in the first they need to bury more of them.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Zetterberg with 16.4 left! I'll take a point after down 2-0.

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And Weiss gets his 1st to win it in ot.

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What a rally by the Wings tonight! Great start so far for the team. New guys are fitting in really well and the veterans seem to be firing on all cylinders.

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So this is what it's like to have a game finish before 10pm.

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:lol I must admit it is very strange to have some games starting at 4pm.

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Yeah that would be weird. I mean I just turned on Tigers/Athletics and it's 9:30 here and it's light out there.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Chad, my man, what a fun game tonight! Another very complete game by the Avs, who are really firing on all cylinders. Their puck possession and control is just other-worldly right now, and I love how every player is working hard. Very hard. Even the defense looked sharper tonight, although they still need some work.

The only thing that kept the score so low was an incredibly good Nashville defense. Wow, I forget just how solid they are as a complete team unit. Notice how the Avs hardly ever spent any time in the middle of the Preds' zone? Masterful job by Trotz's boys at keeping everyone to the outside.

Most noticeable player tonight? Steve Downie. Guy was an absolute beast out there. Such an important piece to the Av's puzzle. I want to take another look at his hit on Josi. It definitely looked like he left his feet. I missed the replays, but what I saw could warrant a call from Sheriff Shanny.

Guys, watch out for Matt Duchene. He got even stronger this year, which, combined with his speed, makes him dangerous. He's strong on the puck, has great balance, and is battling hard - continuing his trend from last year. And he's still the fastest guy on the team. LOOK. OUT.

I kept an eye on Jones tonight. The fact that he WASN'T too noticeable out there is of course a good thing. He wasn't an all-star, but that's not what i would expect from a rookie defenseman. He played a mostly error-free game and was calm and composed. Still very optimistic about his future, although the way MacKinnon is playing is making it hard to miss my Sethy. The MacKinnon-Parenteau-McGinn line has something like 9 points already.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Great point, pal. It's not like defensemen have to learn anything NEW per se... the fundamentals of the game are the same. It just takes time to adjust to performing those fundamentals at 100 mph instead of 65.

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81 shots in the Ottawa/Buffalo game tonight. 80 saves. Miller let it in with just over a minute to go. Shots were 46/35 Ottawa. Definitely a first in all of the games I've ever been to.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

So here are my goalies for tongiht (bolded confirmed starters on leftwinglock)

Rask vs Det
Halak vs Fla
Price vs Phi
Emery vs Mon

I get to start two of these sexy beasts and I am assuming Rask will start and Emery may as well get his first start tonight. I am leaning towards Rask and Halak, any thoughts?

I didn't go to bed as upset about that game as the previous. The Avs looked really improved and I was impressed.

The Downie incident isn't even being reviewed by Shanny and that's bs. He torpedoed himself at Josis head. Just another case for why fighting needs to stay. The league won't do anything so someone needs to and they were really giving it to Downie all night.

Jones played mistake free for the most part and I even saw him out there with Weber a few times. Obviously Trotz trusts him enough to have the most ice time throughout the first. I'm very excited to see his progression.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Yeah, Downie definitely left his feet on that hit. There's no way you're that high in the air without leaving your feet.

At the very least it was a penalty for charging.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Lots of people saying he didn't leave his feet until after the hit. Still, it seemed like he was targeting Josi's head.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Downie left his feet only after contact was made, it looks like. I haven't seen any really good slow-motion replays though. Hard to tell.

Fighting occurs so often after these hits but it is almost impossible to determine the "cleanliness" of the hit in real time. So you just have players guessing and going after guys and basically it just boils down to vigilante justice.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

He did get a charging penalty. I still haven't watched a really good replay, but it was certainly reckless. Downie's been really well behaved sice he came to the Avs, but he still plays with that edge. Good on weber and bourque for jumping in.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Two guys jumping in and delivering punches to a guy on the ice is not just as dirty as the charging penalty committed by Downie?

And were the Preds still given a PP even after Weber and Bourque jumped in? If so, that is just nonsense.

On another subject....after watching the highlights, it looked like Duchene was in total beast mode.