NHL Fantasy League - Game On!

[Asher]

A few people still haven't moved their players off the bench into their positions...you got a few days.

[Sava]

hmmmm decisions decisions.... who to start... lots of good matchups...

damn, some games next week are going to be gut wrenching... I hate it when some of my top forwards are facing off against my goalies... I don't know who to root for

maybe for the goalie to win, but for the forward to get a point or two

[Kontiki]

Ready to be beaten like a rented mule, Sava?

[Sava]

heheh we shall see!!!

[Sava]

wow... ESPN's Scott Burnside is an idiot...

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/preview2005/news/story?id=2179633&CMP=OTC-DT9705204233

Kari Lehtonen -- Atlanta Thrashers
Considered one of the top goaltending prospects of this generation, Lehtonen is a definite rookie of the year candidate and should lead the Thrashers to their first playoff berth.

that's nice... only Burnside should do some real reporting...

this is from Tim Sassone... hockey beat reporter from the Chicago area paper the Daily Herald:

Thrashers goalie Lehtonen lands in coach’s doghouse

By Tim Sassone
Daily Herald Sports Writer
Posted Tuesday, September 27, 2005


Atlanta rookie goalie Kari Lehtonen, the former Wolves star, isn’t off to a good start with coach Bob Hartley.

Lehtonen frustrated Hartley when he reported to camp out of shape and promptly pulled a groin muscle in a scrimmage.

“He’ll have to get in better shape,” Hartley told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “(A groin injury for a goalie) is a pretty straight relation to being out of shape. I coached Patrick Roy for five years and I never recalled him having a groin injury, and he was 33 or 34 years old.”

Hartley said Lehtonen was “opening the door to Mike Dunham” to be the No. 1 goalie.

According to the Journal-Constitution, the 21-year-old Lehtonen was nicknamed “The Hamburgler” by his Wolves teammates because of his love of fast food.

link: http://www.dailyherald.com/search/se...y.asp?id=98832



Burnside also says Khabibulin will be bad...

Has Burnside not watched any preseason hockey? Khabi has looked great in the preseason so far!

What a moron.

btw, Burnside also says Cujo is going to be good this year...

we'll see Scott... Cujo good, Khabibulin bad... okay whatever

ESPN needs to get some better sportswriters.


Kari Lehtonen...

[joncha]

Originally posted by dejon


Oops - scratch this - it does not apply to Head-to-Head Leagues. Each week you want to get as most as you can out of your players.

Excellent.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Sava, maybe you should be a bit more up to date

http://www.ajc.com/thrashers/content/sports/thrashers/1005/01thrashers.html

Lehtonen looks strong in debut

By JOHN MANASSO
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/01/05

Kari Lehtonen made his belated debut in the Thrashers' goal in the team's exhibition finale, having missed 10 days of practice with a groin injury.

Whatever time Lehtonen might have had off, the Predators made up for it on Friday, pelting him with 30 shots by the end of the second period.

Nonetheless, Lehtonen showed few signs of rust, at times making spectacular saves as he stopped 35 shots in a 3-2 victory before 10,109 at Philips Arena.

Looks like Burnside is correct... Lehtonen is on his way.

Couple that with:

http://www.ajc.com/thrashers/content/sports/thrashers/1005/01thrashnot.html

Dunham swaps illegal pads for smaller ones

By JOHN MANASSO
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/01/05

With their season opener in five days and their preseason schedule complete, the Thrashers now have practice time to adjust to the new rules.

That is particularly true for goalie Mike Dunham, who must break in his new, smaller pads in practice. The pads arrived earlier in the week, but Dunham used his old — illegal — pads through all five of his appearances in preseason games, including Thursday's, saying the new ones were too stiff.

Which made Dunham look better than he was in preseason.

[Sava]

okay, one preseason game against the Predators and Burnside has him winning the Calder...


but good story about Dunham

what a bum...

I don't know for sure if Lehtonen is the real deal... he was good for the Wolves here in Chicago

but regardless, Burnside is still an idiot

[Imran Siddiqui]

Please Sava ... Lehtonen is a highly regarded prospect by MANY publications, not just ESPN. More than one have projected him to be a Calder finalist.

And the game was AFTER Burnside's article, IIRC.

[Sava]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
And the game was AFTER Burnside's article, IIRC.

well then I go back to my original point... he is a huge idiot... and I am not just talking about his point about Lehtonen... Burnside made many other stupid points about Cujo and Khabibulin... not to mention he is Captain Obvious when he says Jarome Iginla is a good player.... WELL NO **** SHERLOCK... GEEE, DO YOU THINK MARTIN BRODEUR MIGHT BE PRETTY GOOD AS WELL?

plus, I'm not doubting Lehtonen's talent...

but how can you be naming him a Calder finalist (as Burnside did) when he comes into camp out of shape, gets injured because of it, and he is known to have a fondness of fast food?

and don't roll your eyes at me you atlanta homer...

I think my criticism is quite reasonable...

frankly, I hope Lehtonen does good... he is a product of the Chicago Wolves

but for Burnside to be so high on him, despite what has been going on, is just plain stupid... and if you deny that, you are just being an atlanta homer

[Imran Siddiqui]

but how can you be naming him a Calder finalist (as Burnside did) when he comes into camp out of shape, gets injured because of it, and he is known to have a fondness of fast food?

Um... because he's THAT good? Preseason is preseason, means as much as a fart in the wind compared to the real season.

[Asher]

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?id=138640

NHL referees to wear microphones

NHL Referee

Canadian Press

10/3/2005 2:38:17 PM

Referees will wear microphones and announce penalties to spectators and to viewers watching at home when the NHL restarts with all 30 teams playing Wednesday night.

It's the latest innovation for a league eager to attract attention and lure fans after losing its 2004-2005 season to a collective bargaining impasse.

The new set-up might not be in place in all arenas opening night but it will be there for each team's second home game, league officials promised Monday.

Referees will announce single and offsetting penalties in English. If there are multiple penalties at the same time, to avoid delaying games announcements will be left to arena public address systems. In every instance, the in-house announcer will repeat the referee's call, which will enable penalty calls in Montreal to continue to be relayed to spectators in French.

Also, fans at home openers will receive a mini Stanley Cup replica courtesy of the NHL upon leaving the 30 arenas. Individual teams also have their own giveaways planned.



"It's our way of saying thanks to fans for sticking with us," said deputy commissioner Bill Daly.

Colin Campbell, vice-president of hockey operations, and referee-in-chief Stephen Walkom said they are satisfied with the progress being made in limiting obstruction fouls.

During the pre-season that ended Sunday, there was an average of 17 power plays per game. During the 2003-2004 regular season, there were an average of 11 per game, with an increase in power-play goals scored. Moving the blue-lines slightly further from defensive zones had something to do with the numbers, said Campbell. So did a diligent administration of the obstruction crackdown by the referees.

"To us, it's not about statistics," Walkom said during a league-sponsored conference call. "It's about a standard.

"If the players don't conform to the standard, then there will be penalties. I noticed a big change in terms of the flow of the game" as pre-season wore on and players adapted.

Hitting shouldn't decrease because of the crackdown, said Campbell, adding that the reintroduction of the tag-up rule on offsides will make sure of that. But some players said after exhibition games that passion and intensity was being sucked out of games because of some players' temerity to be nabbed for calls that weren't being made in previous seasons.

"I don't agree with that," said Campbell. "That's just a knee-jerk reaction.

"The pre-season has never been a whole-hitting affair. Wait till the real games to judge any trends. In my mind, if you can dump the puck in, there'll be a lot more hitting if you can't hold players up."

Players and coaches continue to adapt, said Campbell.

"For the most part, we have noticed a difference in the game," he said.

Players are finding more open ice when they're not being hooked and held.

"The whole process is right about where we expected it to be," said Campbell. "The real test will come when the games are for real and points are at stake.

"It's a process we will be on top of consistently."

One aspect of the crackdown is to stop defencemen in front of their own nets from cross-checking opponents out of the way.

"(The referees) have been instructed that, the old tactic of continuously punishing the player in front of the net with continuous cross-checking, we want it removed from the game," said Walkom. "In terms of battling for position and bumping, we haven't taken that out of the game."

Things are far from perfect yet.

"We're not kidding anybody," said Walkom "This isn't over by any means."

Walkom spoke with his staff Monday.

"Our guys will have to stay the course and call the new standard of enforcement from the start of the game to the end of the game," he said.

Retired referee Terry Gregson has been added to staff, and new resource equipment such as DVDs has been put in place, to help guide on-ice officials on maintaining the crackdown.

An average of 5.2 goals a game were scored during 2003-2004, while there was an average of 6.2 this pre-season.

Players have been told they must keep their helmets on for shootouts. Helmets were optional for some pre-season games but players kept their helmets on.

"Bad hairdos, I don't know," Campbell kidded when asked why players wouldn't choose to let the locks loose. "But we want consistency throughout the league so we're starting the season not allowing the players to take their helmets off."

The league has decided to have dry Zamboni scrapes before shootouts if they are necessary to break ties, Campbell added.

An attempt to have all goalies wear form-fitting sweaters, which would stop some goalies from wearing over-sized sweaters to help them stop pucks, has been shelved for now because the sweaters didn't arrive in time to allow players to get used to them, said Campbell.

"We've decided to go with the regular sweaters goalies have been using," he said. "We'll deal with this issue as the season progresses. We'd like to see them introduced at some point."

[Kontiki]

Khabibulin was great in the playoffs, but during the 03/04 regular season, he finished 20th in GAA and 26th in save percentage. He also only had three shutouts, equal to or fewer than almost every other starting goaltender in the league (in fact, only four had fewer).

Doesn't make Khabi bad, but I'd say he's a bit overated.

[notyoueither]

Damn. Boston in week 1.

[Asher]

Starts tomorrow...I hope everyone has assigned positions.