Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Favorite: Nick Backstrom, easily. Dude is the definition of character, one of the game's premier passers, and still seemingly one of the better kept secrets in the league. For a player who's finished in the top 5 in points multiple times, you hardly ever hear him talked about.

Least favorite: this is tougher. Probably Alex Ovechkin. There's others (looking at you Brooks Laich/John Erskine), but if I had to pick one it's probably Ovie. On the nights when he scores the big goal he's easy to love, but as someone who watches him every night (and as many in here love to point out), his attitude and refusal to play defense hold my hockey team back from being elite. If he'd just play the game like Sidney or Toews, he could be every bit as valuable as those guys. And he can do it, he just doesn't want to. And as a Caps fan who just wants a Cup and couldn't care less who's on the team that wins it, it's been hard trying to accept the fact that the Ovie era won't bring a Cup to Washington. Because it really should. But it won't. No team who's centerpiece is AO will win a Cup.

Up and comer: Evgeny Kuznetsov. Just...wow. I'm afraid being around Ovechkin as much as he is could become cancerous, but Kuzya seems to really want to prove to himself he can succeed in the NHL. And the kid is lights out talented. His hockey IQ is off the charts. This guy should be special

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

^^ i know you follow the caps much more closely than i do, but man, my least favorite for the caps would easily be mike green...dude is a liability half the time he's on the ice

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

then factor in the money he makes....yeesh

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

I actually think Mike Green is a bit unfairly criticized. Is he a top 2 dman? No. Top 4? Yeah, probably. Problem is he's often partnered with a shit player (Orlov, Carrick, Schmidt, etc....most of y'all are probably like who? Exactly.) which exposes him a lot. He gets caught in a lot of two on ones, but that's not really his fault. The other thing with Green is everyone remembers those two seasons where he scored like 50 combined goals. That's not gonna happen ever again. And frankly we're talented enough where we don't need 30 goal seasons by a dman. My big issues with Green are his salary and his conditioning. He's not the best defensive player ever, but if he was partnered with another top 4 dman who was defensively oriented, Mike Green could be valuable I think. If he can stay healthy anyway.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

yea i'm sure the pairings have been chaotic with him, but there are times when i literally see him fall as if he'd never worn ice skates before...he gets paid way too much IMO

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Oh definitely. MG can def bring the lulz sometimes. And he's fantastically overpaid. No question

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how much longer is green under team control?

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His contract is up after next season

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

:: waves goodbye to mike green ::

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

You'd have to think. Either that or a significant pay cut. No way he even comes close to his current $6mil

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:lol no, god no...unless the redskins decide to expand an NHL franchise, then i could see it

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

And some Wings fans were bitching, when he was scoring all those goals, that they gave up that pick that became Green in the Lang deal because Lang had a bad 2007 regular season. Forgetting that Lang was the leading scorer when they got him and played well in 04 and 06 and even with a bad 07 regular season scored some big goals in the 07 playoffs. God some fans are stupid.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Robert Lang >> Mike Green

I remember that trade. IIRC, that's the only time a guy who was currently leading the league in points got traded

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The more you post here, the more I like you. :thumbsup A Caps fan that isn't completely hypnotized in Ovechkin-ville.

I think you nailed it with Green. The problem with him is everyone (including himself I think) considers and plays him as a #1 defenseman, when frankly, he just doesn't have the skill set of a top pairing guy. He doesn't have great defensive instincts, isn't physical, not a great outlet passer and he tries to take the puck out of the zone himself which isn't a good idea because he's also one of the poorer skaters in the NHL.

Don't get me wrong, Mike Green is still a "good" defenseman who deserves a spot on an NHL club, he's just being utilized incorrectly as a top guy. I think he'd do well playing consistently with someone like Carlson who can cover his ass if needed, but still get him the puck for his booming shot (his greatest asset).

Overall, Green belongs on the top PP unit and on the second defensive pairing with a quick-skating partner who can compensate for his lack of agility and physicality. Again, Carlson would be the perfect candidate for a full-time D partner I would think.

Oh, and don't let him anywhere near the PK... except maybe to open the bench door when PK'ers are changing.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Oh yeah I forgot about that. They also bitch cause of Fleischman. Again forgetting that he didn't make the Caps full time until what 2008? You think he would have made the Wings when he couldn't make the Caps? To those fans, pull your head out of your ass.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

:lol thanks. Like I said, I just want a Cup. I've been at this a very long time with this team and I try to keep it real when I talk about Ovechkin. 60 goal seasons are awesome, but Cups are better. And I've never felt that. And he was supposed to change that. But he didn't. And he won't. I tried to hold out hope for a long time and I still do I guess. But I'm not blind. Ovie isn't a captain on a Cup winning team.

The problem with putting Green with Carlson is they're both righties, and honestly they play a somewhat similar game only Carlson is so much stronger defensively. Carlson is perfect with Karl Alzner, the real best kept secret on the Caps. Not sure what you know about him, but a Foote guy would love Karl Alzner. So smart. So strong. So humble. Such a great player.

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Right, exactly. Plus Tomas Fleischmann is pretty underwhelming. I don't miss that guy

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Interesting. Admittedly I haven't watched much of Alzner for the past couple seasons. Overall just general disinterest in the Caps (no offense). Nice to hear he's developing well. He's got the potential to be great, and it's cool to see he's reaching it. I might have to pull up some stuff on him and watch more!

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Yeah there was a post by a Wings blogger around 2010 or so saying it was the worst trade. I think that's when he was having a great year. But again, he got his opportunity on a not as good team when he started. And all of that cause the Wings didn't have much playoff success when Lang was here. WTF? Even though they got ousted early in both 04 and 06 he was pretty good. 9 points in 12 games in 04 and 6 points in 6 games in 06. Not much else he could have done those years. Plus scored game tying goals in game 6 against the Flames (won game and series in ot) and game tying goal in game 4 against the Sharks with like 40 seconds to go (game won in ot and tied the series 2-2). It's not just Wings fans either. Why do people of successful teams always have to focus on what was done wrong all the time?

edit: Pistons fans do it here because they took Darko over Melo. Pistons won it once, a finals another time and the 3 years after that went to the ECF's. You'd give all that up for what Melo might have done here? And you know he would have left here too. He left a good Denver team to go to a shit NYK team. Let's give up for sure success for what might have been greener.

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:lol robert lang! he played on some awful penguin teams

glad i got a marty straka jersey instead of lang, still wear that 82 sweater to this day

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No offense taken at all, Alzner can be easy to miss :lol mark of a good dman I guess. I get it, you're a Western conference guy. I don't really know a ton about the Av's roster either :hug Alzner is incredibly sound positionally. Very strong and strong on the puck. Not the biggest hitter necessarily but effective. Smart in the d zone. Rarely gets caught watching.

Big knocks are his speed and you get virtually zero offense with him. But he's a super team guy and on the rare occasion he gets a goal it can really bring the team to life

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

:lol I guess people need something to complain about

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I'll be sure to watch more of him... I usually pay attention to the D anyways, so I'm sure I would've picked him out if I actually watched Caps games :lol

Love guys like that, as everyone here is extremely sick of hearing about. :lol

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:lol even I know you love the stay at home defenseman

And with good reason :thumbsup

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

‏@markhmasters:
TBL coach Jon Cooper on Stamkos: "I can't say enough about what he's done to keep us all together"

Keep the team together because your last captain threw a hissy fit about something unrelated to the team, and abandoned them? Yeah I can see that being a tough assignment for your new captain.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Talking strictly the Blackhawks:

Favorite: 19! 19! 19! 19! 19!, Keith, Kane, Sharp, Saad, Hjalmarsson...I can't pick. If I had to pick one? Toews. No, Keith. No, Kane...I can't pick. One of those 6 guys.

Least favorite: Handzus, for no fault of his own. I'd love him as a 4C, but he's the most frustrating guy on the team just because of how he's used.

Up and coming player: Teuvo is the obvious answer, so I'll go with a guy that's not as well known. Adam Clendening would be up in the NHL on any other team in the league, but when the Blackhawks are skating Nick Leddy as their 5th defenseman, it's a little tough to crack the squad. I've been to a couple Icehogs games this season, and that kid is by far the most fun to watch. He moves the puck so well, is becoming so much stronger defenseively. Think of him as a Nick Leddy but with a higher ceiling. He actually hits, unlike Leddy, and I think he has better vision. While Leddy moves the puck as well as anybody not named Keith or Kane, he has a tendancy to just put his head down and miss plays because he's driving the puck so hard deep. Clendening moves the puck so well, but also sees plays develop better. I believe he's leading the AHL in assists, or close to it, and is 2nd in the AHL for defenseman scoring.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

I guess I'm rooting for TBL tonight. Wings closer to TO and if the Leafs lose Wings are within 5 and 3 game in hand.

This Blues Hawks game is gonna be insane

The NHL rivals episode of Hawks Blues got me so fired up.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

If Duncan Keith doesn't win the Norris this season...