The 2008 NHL Offseason Thread

[dernhelm]

GO WINGS!

They were the best team in Hockey this year, and Z was the best player on the ice. And no - I'm not a Crosby hater, or a Pens hater - but the Wings put on a clinic this series. I'll give credit where credit is due, however, the Pens played well enough to see Stanley on home ice - which is actually saying something.

Congrats to Mr. Holland and the best run team in Professional sports. Bar none.

 

[roland.g]

blah blah blah yada yada yada

this thread is dead.

it all stinks of nhl darlings, get away with everything, biased commentators, the whole nine yards.
the only town that you can buy, smoke and sell crack as a concession on the parade route.

 

[Teh Don Ditty]

blah blah blah yada yada yada

this thread is dead.

it all stinks of nhl darlings, get away with everything, biased commentators, the whole nine yards.
the only town that you can buy, smoke and sell crack as a concession on the parade route.

You're not saying that just because you're an Avs fan are ya?

 

[roland.g]

You're not saying that just because you're an Avs fan are ya?

maybe, but have you been to detroit. and have you listened to the commentators, nbc moreso than versus, in the series. and have you seen the abuse that detroit players gave to opposing teams through 4 rounds with all their clutching, grabbing, holding up. And no interference calls (cept the goalie ones). It's one thing to hit a guy, another to hold and pin him long after the play is gone. Same thing with rubbing someone off the puck. Their guys also do a lot of obstruction, 1 or 2 d and a center skating back, holding up a forechecker when they haven't touched the puck. they get away with much more than any other team, b/c 1. of their perceived skill and puck possession and 2. they are the nhl darlings.

 

[thegman1234]

maybe, but have you been to detroit. and have you listened to the commentators, nbc moreso than versus, in the series. and have you seen the abuse that detroit players gave to opposing teams through 4 rounds with all their clutching, grabbing, holding up. And no interference calls (cept the goalie ones). It's one thing to hit a guy, another to hold and pin him long after the play is gone. Same thing with rubbing someone off the puck. Their guys also do a lot of obstruction, 1 or 2 d and a center skating back, holding up a forechecker when they haven't touched the puck. they get away with much more than any other team, b/c 1. of their perceived skill and puck possession and 2. they are the nhl darlings.

You're not saying that the Red Wings were gifted with calls were you? That they got away with stuff that they shouldn't have? Come on, why would that happen?

Unfortunately, my best buddy had the idea of watching the game at his girl friends house. I saw the last 5 minutes of the game, and about 2 hours of the damn Real World. But I did catch game 5, that was some game.

Anyway, did anyone catch Hossa crying? I don't blame him after how close he came to tying that game, I'm sure Ozzy counted his blessings last night.

Wings win, I get my retribution , and now we watch... baseball.

At least I don't have to hear Ditty call the Rangers the Rags for a few months lol. Speaking of which, let's go find us some hockey players, there's a lot of nice golf courses on the island haha.

 

[Surely]

Unfortunately, my best buddy had the idea of watching the game at his girl friends house. I saw the last 5 minutes of the game, and about 2 hours of the damn Real World. But I did catch game 5, that was some game.

Anyway, did anyone catch Hossa crying? I don't blame him after how close he came to tying that game, I'm sure Ozzy counted his blessings last night.

Wings win, I get my retribution , and now we watch... baseball.

I hope your best buddy's girlfriend had a friend there for you at least. Two hours of the Real World without gettin' any after sitting through it is criminal.

Hossa will be having nightmares all summer- I hope he has a good shrink.

Baseball.... yawn.

 

[roland.g]

double yawn.

at least I'm playing in two hockey leagues for the next 12 weeks. that will keep in a hockey frame of mind through the end of August. Just in time for NFL.

 

[FightTheFuture]

maybe, but have you been to detroit.

um. have you been to detroit? talking trash about a city you've never been to is like talking trash about a computer that has 3% marketshare.

 

[Rhosfelt]

um. have you been to detroit? talking trash about a city you've never been to is like talking trash about a computer that has 3% marketshare.

you couldn't be referring to apple, because they have about 5% now..


Baseball = boring, and to me football is also boring. I'd rather not watch guys in tight clothes grab and pull. Soccer for me until NHL is back.

 

[Surely]

you couldn't be referring to apple, because they have about 5% now..


Baseball = boring, and to me football is also boring. I'd rather not watch guys in tight clothes grab and pull. Soccer for me until NHL is back.

Soccer.....triple yawn.

I heard that Sid the Kid learned how to perfect his diving skills by watching soccer.

 

[Teh Don Ditty]

Soccer.....triple yawn.

I heard that Sid the Kid learned how to perfect his diving skills by watching soccer.

POTD!

My friend and I were talking last night and were like "you know Osgood just won the cup... again. You remember he was with the Islanders right?" Oh. Right.

 

[Rhosfelt]

Soccer.....triple yawn.

I heard that Sid the Kid learned how to perfect his diving skills by watching soccer.

haha Now that the season is off, I guess so are the gloves (i love that saying).

Soccer is a bit more like hockey than all of the other sports that are on now, so I will probably stick to that until beach volleyball comes on the Olympics That or the tennis matches that include Kournikova.

 

[dernhelm]

Soccer.....triple yawn.

I heard that Sid the Kid learned how to perfect his diving skills by watching soccer.

He didn't have to do much diving. The NHL was going to it's darndest to make sure this series went 7 games. As it was, they barely got it to 6...

Penguins get 5 on 3 power plays in two games, Detroit gets none, and Detroit has the puck 80% of the time? Two games end with power plays in the last 2 minutes and the Penguins down a goal? Come on, who are we kidding?

This series was only close because the NHL needed it to be.

 

[Surely]

POTD!

My friend and I were talking last night and were like "you know Osgood just won the cup... again. You remember he was with the Islanders right?" Oh. Right.

Don't you hate it when that happens? I get reminded of that when ex-Leafs win the Cup too.

haha Now that the season is off, I guess so are the gloves (i love that saying).

Soccer is a bit more like hockey than all of the other sports that are on now, so I will probably stick to that until beach volleyball comes on the Olympics That or the tennis matches that include Kournikova.

Soccer is just not hockey-like enough for me. I can't watch it for longer than a few minutes at a time. It's like hockey without hitting. But even then, it's still not like hockey. I'm not saying it's a bad sport, it just doesn't do it for me.

He didn't have to do much diving. The NHL was going to it's darndest to make sure this series went 7 games. As it was, they barely got it to 6...

Penguins get 5 on 3 power plays in two games, Detroit gets none, and Detroit has the puck 80% of the time? Two games end with power plays in the last 2 minutes and the Penguins down a goal? Come on, who are we kidding?

This series was only close because the NHL needed it to be.

I agree that there were lots and lots of bad calls, but I don't buy the conspiracy theory. Maybe you should make a tin-foil Stanley Cup and put it on your head.

/I kid, I kid.

 

[dernhelm]

I agree that there were lots and lots of bad calls, but I don't buy the conspiracy theory. Maybe you should make a tin-foil Stanley Cup and put it on your head.

/I kid, I kid.

Ha! I wasn't promoting a conspiracy THEORY. I was stating a fact!

Just watch. The wings own the puck for 80% of the game, and then suddenly they're down two players. Meanwhile players like Holmstrom and Franzen are taking cheap shots to the head and nary a call. I get the refs can't be everywhere and see everything, but when a team that can go 12 minutes at a time without a shot on goal suddenly finds themselves on the power play, it isn't because they skating better and drawing penalties.

I like the cup on your head idea, but I won't wear tin-foil because it makes it too easy for the aliens to beam stuff into your head.

 

[roland.g]

um. have you been to detroit? talking trash about a city you've never been to is like talking trash about a computer that has 3% marketshare.

yes. went to Michigan, as in Ann Arbor. Had friends and family in many of the burbs, have spent quite a bit of time in Detroit. Been to The Joe, Cobo, The Fox, The State. I didn't spend much time at Joy & Livernois after dark, but then again I didn't have a death wish.

 

[thegman1234]

I hope your best buddy's girlfriend had a friend there for you at least. Two hours of the Real World without gettin' any after sitting through it is criminal.

Hossa will be having nightmares all summer- I hope he has a good shrink.

Baseball.... yawn.

Actually, one of her friends tried to deny us the last 5 minutes of the game, whining, demanding we left the Real World on. Needless to say my best friend complained about her the whole night after she left.

Soccer.....triple yawn.

I heard that Sid the Kid learned how to perfect his diving skills by watching soccer.

Lmao, actually I heard he's going to join the Olympic Diving team. I do like Soccer though, MLS however is boring. I can't wait for the next World Cup. Forza Italia!!

 

[rhett7660]

Anybody care to start the "09" thread!!!!! teehee

I thought the last minute of last night game was pretty much the best part of the whole series for me. Even thou Pitt came back and one a few etc.. but the last minute I was freaking standing yelling at the tv. Great finish!

 

[Teh Don Ditty]

'08 - '09 Season Thread gets created in September when training camps open.

 

[rhett7660]

I was being funny.... LOL.....

 

[FightTheFuture]

yes. went to Michigan, as in Ann Arbor

fair enough. its ok to have an opinion as long as you can back it up and everyone is entitled to it. detroit is rebuilding and it's going to take a lot of time. but they are proactive and residents do have faith that it will get back on track to fruition. ie... look at cleveland 15 years ago and look at it now.

now back to the hockey talk - any teams have players that should be moved? for the wings, i think we could easily do away with dallas drake and dominik hasek. as much as i love dom - he's simply holding up a spot for our young goalie, jimmy howard. i also liked the play of tomas kopecky during the season and hope to see more of him next year.

 

[roland.g]

you want to get rid of the Flopinator?

 

[dernhelm]

fair enough. its ok to have an opinion as long as you can back it up and everyone is entitled to it. detroit is rebuilding and it's going to take a lot of time. but they are proactive and residents do have faith that it will get back on track to fruition. ie... look at cleveland 15 years ago and look at it now.

now back to the hockey talk - any teams have players that should be moved? for the wings, i think we could easily do away with dallas drake and dominik hasek. as much as i love dom - he's simply holding up a spot for our young goalie, jimmy howard. i also liked the play of tomas kopecky during the season and hope to see more of him next year.

I'm also pretty sick of listening to trash talk from people who've never seen or been in Detroit. I'm down there all the time taking my kids to the museums, ball games, whatever. We almost never feel unsafe - certainly no more than I have in Boston or Chicago. The economy is terrible here as well as everywhere, but I haven't seen any evidence of any worse crime around here than anywhere else. Things are a lot more run down than anyone would like, but I just haven't seen the safety issue that everyone seems to like to talk about.

But back to hockey. I agree with you about Dom. Time for him to REALLY retire. Jimmy isn't going to get better unless and until he gets some real playing time. I don't quite feel the same way about Dallas Drake, but I do have to say that they should simply hire Chelios as a bench coach (or even player coach). You certainly don't want that guy leaving the organization, but even he never complained about not playing during the playoffs this year - so he knows it really is over.

I've been hearing some incredible things about that new Fin - I forget his name at the moment (but I've got a friend who married a Fin, and from her family I understand that he's universally known as the best player in Finland).

 

[Rhosfelt]

http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/06/hockey-night-in.html

This had me worried for a bit, but it turns out to be just the song hahaha. Someone write a new one and record it on the mac!

 

[Surely]

What do people think about Ron Wilson becoming the next coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs?

I've heard some not so good things about him: that he's very arrogant and never admits when he's wrong (it's always someone else's fault). I could care less if he's friendly with the media or if he treats them like sh*t- most of them in Toronto probably deserve it anyway.

Is he an over-achieving average coach, or is he a great coach who's teams have always underachieved?

I'm very tentative to be excited about this signing. He strikes me as the type of coach that can motivate a team for a year or two, and then his drill-sergeant shtick gets old (a la Mike Keenan), and the players start to tune out.

What do you think? Any San Hosers out there that can report firsthand what they think about his performance over the past few years with the Sharks? Any Leafs fans who agree or disagree?

Any Isles fans out there that think they have a chance in hell to make the playoffs next season? (just thought I'd involve you TDD )