Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Hell, I'd even take Bryzgalov at this point. He may be a head case but he (can be a) hell of a goalie.

Really time for McTavish to make that "bold' move he keeps talking about. Ship Yakupov outta town and package him up for a goalie. Originally I thought a d-man would be a better choice but clearly the tender is what needs most improvement.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Just rewatching the highlights, some of those goals weren't really his fault:

Goal 1 - Definitely not his fault
Goal 2 - Definitely not his fault
Goal 3 - Probably not his fault
Goal 4 - Not his fault (this one is mostly on Ference and RNH)
Goal 5 - Probably his fault
Goal 6 - Definitely not his fault (especially since it came of the stick of the magical David Bolland)

I mean, is Dubnyk the best goalie in the league? No. Top 10? No. But neither is that blue line. Teams like that Blackhawks/Red Wings/etc. have been so massively successful because they build talent starting with the blue line, and then worry about goaltending only after they feel comfortable with everything else on the ice. Look at other teams that go for world class goaltenders before they build a solid defensive core. Vancouver...Buffalo...do you really want to be them?

His team needs to help him out. It's amazing how slim the difference probably is between Dubnyk and a guy like Crawford. Craw just has centers that backcheck (HARD) and defenseman that make it easy for him. They get pucks to the outside, cut off angles, clear the zone, and move the puck up the ice REALLY quickly. Transitioning from defense to offense in the blink of an eye. THAT is what this team needs. Now if you ask me? The play was to take Ryan Murray, not Yakupov with that #1 pick. But they are where they are now, and they definitely can't ditch Nail now.

How much do you know about the farm system guys? Hows Marincin looking? What about Klefbom? He was a first round draft pick and is supposed to be an absolute stud.

This year doesn't have to be WIN NOW. They have guys locked up for a good amount of time, with really only Yakupov coming off the books after next year. If Marincin and Klefbom can make their way to the squad and live up to their hype...they can be in great shape. They just need one veteran top 4 guy and they're golden. Kyle Quincey? Brooks Orpik? Dan Girardi? Those guys are all UFA after this season, and I really don't see how the Rangers can keep Girardi or the Pens Orpik.

This team will be good. There's too much talent for it not to be. They just need to be better fundamentally, and get help along the blue line. I know it's tough to watch this right now, but trust me, as a guy that watched Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews bring back the Blackhawks from dead, you guys have something special going on with those forwards. Just give the rest of it time. I think it's too soon to give up on Yak. Give the kid this season and see where you guys are midway through next year before it's the "TRADE NAIL!" bandwagon.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

I'm not sure how much you know about Klefbom, Swordo, but the kid is gonna be a stud for you guys:

http://newsok.com/article/3892388

I was reading up on what Edmonton people have been saying about Martin Marincin, and it appears he might be about a year away (possibly ready later this year for some call ups). That solves a lot of problems for you guys if those two can put it together (mostly Klefbom recovering from that surgery).

Who knows, maybe sign Ryan Miller or Hiller or Halak in the offseason.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Speaking of kids, how awesome was MacKinnon netting his first goal, Matt? Hilarious watching him celebrate. Giant smile on his face.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Annoyed at the Islander loss last night. After holding our own vs. Chicago with Poulin in (even though Hawks carried the play for a lot of the game), I thought we'd go into Nashville, play a strong game vs. a struggling team having trouble scoring and win the game. Very poor effort for most of the game. We played boring Pred hockey and Nabby gave up 2 weak goals, though he made several key saves as our D was terrible in front. We had a 4 minute PP in the 3rd and did nothing with it.

Team is missing 2 NHL caliber dman. We really needed an upgrade there this summer but I knew they weren't gonna spend any money there. We are gonna have to wait for Reinhart, Pulock, Mayfield, etc to be ready and take those spots.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

the Islanders are what I thought the Oilers would become.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Good to see Hawks taking care of business the last couple of nights. Score lines were close but the games really weren't. Hawks looked much closer to their puck-dominating selves. Toews/Kane line....soooo good.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Hockey players aren't supposed to celebrate. Act like you've been there before, geez.

/Oates&Cherry

Hertl got hurtl late in the second last night going to the crease. Fell head first into someone's leg. Didn't play in the third but is expected to be OK.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Pens look like they're heading for the same fate as the last few years. A great regular season followed by a collapse in the playoffs. I truly believe the team wins in spite of their coach. He refuses to change anything that isnt working. Bylsma is a dolt.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Nabby made a bunch of big saves but gave up two weak goals, eh? Never heard that before...

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

the thing that bugs me about the Hawks is how they can completely dominate a team in terms of puck possession and not put the puck in the net at an equally alarming rate. against Tampa, the 2nd highest scoring team last season, they held them to ZERO shots in the first period. That's incredible, and they lost in OT. They dominated NYI and BUF and both were one goal victories. Neither of those games deserved to make me think at all, and yet they did. I know it's early, but this is a trend the Hawks are always on.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

They dominated possession against all three teams...at this point that is the important thing to me. Ryan Miller kept Buffalo in that game by himself last night.

Don't see why you are busy worrying about these three games. I am more worried about how they looked against a legit team like STL, who had more shots and controlled more of the puck.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Proteau and Wyshinski having a cute little war of words on Twitter right now.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Did you see the highlights? I'm sure he'd be the first to say the 2nd and 3rd goals he should have had.

That said, he had to come up big several times because of our shitty D and lack of effort hung him out to dry. Am I pinning the loss on him? No. But he could have and maybe should have had those.

http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/con...=sb:highlights

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

It was sarcasm. As a lifelong Sharks fan I've seen plenty of games like you're describing from last night.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Gotcha. Sorry I misread it as something else. :)

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Working on a blog post about the Flyers finding out the hard way that they went into this season too thin at forward. The problem is I have no direction, just a bunch of reasons why they're struggling :lol

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Love the Ducks jerseys tonight!

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Had to bring this back. His 3 assists looked pretty good on Saturday. Can't remember who they played.
Just saw them. Is it 1997?

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

^ An AHL team.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Nah, they didn't play the Sabres.

Looking at how bad a few teams in the East have started, maybe the whole 16/14 split isn't a big deal. Devils winless, FLA seems bad even at 2-4 and the Sabres are bad...like really bad. Caps and Rangers will rebound I think over 82 games just not sure how much. Flyers should be better than they are. Playoff team? Probably not but better than this.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

1) The Ducks sweaters were absolutely incredible. I always loved the Mighty Ducks, even if it was a Disney name. They were so sweet. I'd love to see that come back.

2) After just defending Yakupov a lot, apparently he's flirting with the idea of Kovalchuk-ing the Oilers:

http://sunbelthockey.com/report-nail...ssia-play-khl/

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Wow. What a play by Datsyuk and shot by Zetts. Lovin some afternoon hockey.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

I'll watch it on tivo when I get home....stupid weekday afternoon games.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Sorry. Yeah, I'm off today. Pays to be laid up off my feet from surgery. I won't spoil any more.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Don't worry, I'm listening at work. Just saying I won't see the beauty of it until I get home. Have a feeling with The Monster in net, could be a bad day for the Wings.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

So Asham and Biron on waivers for the Rangers I just saw.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

And so the changes begin. Guess Asham wasn't a great replacement for Prust after all. Biron..well, I think he is older now and not off to a good start. They likely want someone younger and better who can play more as they don't want to run the Queen into the ground.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Love these Ducks jerseys as well.

I remember reading an article last year saying that Yakupov was pissed that they didn't pass him the puck on the power play, among other things :lol

Wouldn't surprise me to see him bolt.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

So I just watched the intro of the inaugural season Mighty Ducks here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFw2-zQ0bfo

I have to say I'm impressed they got 71 points that first year.(I looked that up) Who are some of those guys? I knew a few names but no one who was really that good except maybe Hebert and Bobby Dollas had a decent career.