Around the League Part XIII: The season's here, and so still is this thread!

[Cosmix]

A lot of broken bones. Someone cheapened out on the milk....

It's easy to break bones. Particularly when you are skating on ice at high speed. I broke two bones in my ankle on ice! On the street!

 

[Cosmix]

Still wish Leafs never traded Schenn, how did they get JVR for him...

It was related to a "Holmgren" moment! There were several of those momemts before he was promoted to his appropriate level of competence.

 

[Cosmix]

I have to admit, I'm a little more afraid of the Leafs now than I was at any point over the last decade, now that they've made the conscious effort under Shanahan to actually pay attention to current trends and eschew the old ways of "truculence" and failed ideas on how to play hockey in the post-lockout era.

They have the horses on that team to be a legit every-year playoff team. Kessel, with his terrible conditioning, will experience a huge drop-off in production the second his "prime" is over... but until then, he's still an elite talent. They still need a center, but there are enough guys on that team that they should be an every-year playoff team. Not Cup contenders, but they should be in the top-8 in the East, especially considering how weak it is.

The problem for the last 3-4 years has been at the coaching and management levels. Leafs have made some good trades, but everything has always fallen apart at the organizational level - as in: "how do we organize this group of talent into a cohesive group that wins games consistently?". They misuse their youth at a level that is criminal, and are probably the most stubborn team in the league in the worst way possible. If all of a sudden they are prepared to change their philosophy, I think it's worth taking notice, because honestly, there's nowhere for that team to go but up. Unpopular opinion around these parts I'm sure, but rivalries aside, I think it's disingenuous to suggest that there's not a whole lot of room for improvement on that Leafs team, and foolish to think they can't fulfill at least a little of that untapped potential.

If there's a saving grace as a non-Leafs fan, it's that Nonis is still (and always be) an idiot and Carlyle is a dinosaur who refuses to alter his gameplan to suit the kind of talent he has on his team. Once the Leafs rid themselves of those two - assuming, of course, that they don't replace them with equal or worse boneheads - that team will turn a big corner.

Personally, the fact that Carlyle got extended until the year 2017 was probably my favorite offseason move of any team in the NHL. Leafs do have talent on their roster, but knowing that Carlyle is there to ensure it stays buried, and knowing he won't ever budge from his awful gameplanning and strategies that misuse all of his skilled players... it warms the cockles of my heart on even the darkest nights.

You are the supreme otimist for us Ottawa fans!

 

[Cosmix]

So... uhh... those Capitals Winter Classic jerseys sure are something.

Normally I'm a big fan of retro feels & looks, but I'm not digging this. At all.


Looks like a bad high school jersey from the 70's.

The only things i don't like are the multiple narrow stripes on the shoulders and the socks. It looks too busy there. Using white shoulders and two narrow stripes on the socks could look nice.

 

[Deku]

Matt Kassian just scored for Arizona

 

[Six Assets]

Matt Kassian just scored for Arizona

looool

 

[Qward]

Anyone else notice how much JVR cheats? Cheats as in puts his team in a bad spot hoping for a breakaway or sits by himself in an open area not covering his guy?

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Anyone else notice how much JVR cheats? Cheats as in puts his team in a bad spot hoping for a breakaway or sits by himself in an open area not covering his guy?

Kessel, Kadri, JVR.....seems to be a common trend with that team.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

So Horton has some kind of degenerative back problem and it's looking like he might not play for a while

Hopefuly he gets back to game shape, Emery pulled through so it's doable

 

[dumbdick]

Anyone interested in grabbing Markstrom off waivers? Maybe trade Andy or Lehner? I still think Markstrom will be elite in this league some day.

 

[Qward]

If we didn't extend Andy I would have suggested we trade him to LA or Minny or another contender then picked up markstrom. Don't see that happening now.

 

[Six Assets]

If we didn't extend Andy I would have suggested we trade him to LA or Minny or another contender then picked up markstrom. Don't see that happening now.

Why would LA want Anderson?


It would be sick having 2 huge swedish goalies.

 

[Ice-Tray]

Why would LA want Anderson?


It would be sick having 2 huge swedish goalies.

Be way sicker to have two good goaltenders, no thanks. Rather than look at nationality, we should consider it a negative when a team gives up an 'asset' for nothing.

Especially when that 'asset' would cost us a know good goaltender, not to mention a hit to our organizational reputation.

 

[ChocolateLeclaire]

Be way sicker to have two good goaltenders, no thanks. Rather than look at nationality, we should consider it a negative when a team gives up an 'asset' for nothing.

Especially when that 'asset' would cost us a know good goaltender, not to mention a hit to our organizational reputation.

Not to mention that "asset" was a throw in in another trade when he was once considered a can't miss franchise goalie.

Which is also a lesson in how important it is to bring goalie prospects along slowly.

 

[Qward]

Why would LA want Anderson?


It would be sick having 2 huge swedish goalies.

Quick may be out for some time and analysts wonder if the kid they have backing quick up can carry the load for a long time.

I bet RyJo's angent let out a big "ahhh *****." when he saw jaden Schwartz's new deal.

 

[Benjamin]

How did Schwartz only get 2.35mil!?!? He should be getting atleast double that.

 

[Caeldan]

How did Schwartz only get 2.35mil!?!? He should be getting atleast double that.

2 year deal... 2M first year, 2.7M second year. RFA still upon expiry.

Looks like we might be slowly swinging back to the star RFAs taking that second 'prove it' contract just so they can get paid on the next one.

 

[Milan the God*]

I'm confused with the TV rights deal. I get the premises of it - Rogers has national coverage, TSN regional coverage. Does this mean we get any game that's on a Rogers channel on television here in Ottawa? Ex: looking at the Canucks schedule, every game is on a Rogers channel (whether it's Sportsnet, 360, City TV, or HNIC which is controlled by Rogers now). Does this mean we would get every single Vancouver Canucks game in Ottawa?

 

[Larionov]

Not to mention that "asset" was a throw in in another trade when he was once considered a can't miss franchise goalie.

Which is also a lesson in how important it is to bring goalie prospects along slowly.

Yep, it wasn't that long ago that Markstrom was considered a "can't miss" goalie prospect a la Carey Price in '05. Now he's been waived through the league and will be riding a bus through the Northeastern United States for much of the year.

What this shows also is that it is very much a buyer's market for goalies out there, which helps explain why our return for Bishop was so meagre. Goaltending depth is a dime a dozen, so no one will give you anything for a guy who is just going to be a back up. Even with potential starters, teams are reluctant to shell out big because there are so few truly consistently elite ones out there. I'm always remembering the fact that Niemi won a Cup in Chicago, and then was considered expendable. Keep in mind also that Chris Osgood was a starter on a Cup winning team. I'm not always a huge Steve Simmons fan, but he was right when he said that a true #1 centre might be more important than an elite goalie when it comes to making a playoff run. You don't need an elite goalie, but rather just a very good one who is on a good run at the time...

 

[saskriders]

I'm confused with the TV rights deal. I get the premises of it - Rogers has national coverage, TSN regional coverage. Does this mean we get any game that's on a Rogers channel on television here in Ottawa? Ex: looking at the Canucks schedule, every game is on a Rogers channel (whether it's Sportsnet, 360, City TV, or HNIC which is controlled by Rogers now). Does this mean we would get every single Vancouver Canucks game in Ottawa?

No.

TSN has rights to:

Regional Sens broadcasts
Regional Jets broadcasts
Half of the regional Leafs broadcasts

 

[Milan the God*]

No.

TSN has rights to:

Regional Sens broadcasts
Regional Jets broadcasts
Half of the regional Leafs broadcasts

I realize this. But my example was Vancouver. They have all their games on Rogers.

 

[mat_sens]

I realize this. But my example was Vancouver. They have all their games on Rogers.

Rogers own their Regional rights

 

[HavlatMach9]

I'm confused with the TV rights deal. I get the premises of it - Rogers has national coverage, TSN regional coverage. Does this mean we get any game that's on a Rogers channel on television here in Ottawa? Ex: looking at the Canucks schedule, every game is on a Rogers channel (whether it's Sportsnet, 360, City TV, or HNIC which is controlled by Rogers now). Does this mean we would get every single Vancouver Canucks game in Ottawa?

i believe what's in this post is the case

well it seems Rogers owns their regional games, like TSN did the Jets games that we couldn't see. Just go by days, on days that SNet shows games nationally, you can watch that team.

 

[Lenny the Lynx]

Anyone interested in grabbing Markstrom off waivers? Maybe trade Andy or Lehner? I still think Markstrom will be elite in this league some day.

Pretty terrible idea imo
I think him clearing waivers highlights how soft the goalie market is. We would basically be giving one of our goalies away to take a shot at Markstrom who hasn't proven anything yet

 

[Milan the God*]

i believe what's in this post is the case

well it seems Rogers owns their regional games, like TSN did the Jets games that we couldn't see. Just go by days, on days that SNet shows games nationally, you can watch that team.

Damn. Do you know what days these are?