AHL- Apolyton Hockey League 07/08: VIII Our threads are better than your threads

[Flubber]

Lets wade through the sarcasm and take this point by point

Originally posted by notyoueither


Calgary is the envy of the West.

Obviously not. detroit, San Jose or Anaheim all have better claims on that crown

Originally posted by notyoueither


The Flames have a brilliant GM .

I'll say good but to be brilliant he would have to be doing a better job at finding some mimpact guys that come from nowhere-- Every year there are several pleasnat surprises from unsung rookies, revitalized journeymen or reclamation projects-- I haven't seen one for Sutter in the last two years

Originally posted by notyoueither

and a proven coach.

Yeah but he had no better luck getting a consistent effort or performance than Playfair did

Originally posted by notyoueither


They have a Vezina Goalie,

Yup -- I'll stack Kipper up with the best-- his year wasn't great overall but he has been much better in the stretch and I expect him to be his usual self in the playoffs

Originally posted by notyoueither


a Rocket Richard forward,

The list of single forwards you would RATHER have on your team would be pretty short

Originally posted by notyoueither


a Norris in waiting on the back end,

I wouldn't go quite that far-- Phaneuf still makes a few too many mistakes and there are several defencemen I would rather have on my team if this year alone was the only consideration-- But for the future, again the list of d-men I would rather have on long-term contract would be rather short--

Originally posted by notyoueither


and several other useful players. .

But not enough of them-- The d gets sketchy after Regehr and not enough forwards are a real scoring threat. Langkow is a great second-string centre ( too bad he's on the first line)-- Lombardi is still an enigma-- Conroy is a great third line centre LOL-- Huselius is a goalscoring floated that seems to disappear when the going gets tough

My bottom line is that I quite like the Flames core but I have not been impressed by the support players Sutter has assembled

Originally posted by notyoueither




Flames fans can now look forward to years of the same sort of performances.

Corrected-- The core is pretty decent and may generally be enough to be a marginal playoff team-- But all the good teams have ONE good scorer, defenceman and goalie. The question is how good is your 4th best forward and can you find a few youthful or cheap players to outperform their salary cap hits

[notyoueither]

It wasn't entirely sarcasm.

I would pitch in a part of my scrotum to have Iginla and Kipper of a few years ago on the Oilers today. With the right timing you could win Cups with them as centrepieces.

I also like the Dion as a young DMan. I just don't think you can depend on him for a top 4 spot without his own Huddy. You've got to have a rock to cover for him when he goes on a skate or takes himself out of the play looking for a hit.

The sarcasm comes with the conclusion that backing into the playoffs as 7th or 8th place is the height of achievement while most of the Flames core are aging and getting more expensive, and people are happy that they are all locked up, except for the ones who are going to have to leave due to the cap.

Oh, and I'd score one for Sutter for signing Nolan. I wanted him in Edmonton. I just had a feeling the guy wasn't done.

[Asher]

Nolan was, indeed, a pleasant surprise.

[Flubber]

Originally posted by notyoueither


Oh, and I'd score one for Sutter for signing Nolan. I wanted him in Edmonton. I just had a feeling the guy wasn't done.

Ya perhaps I should give Sutter some credit for that one-- NOlan has been tough and hard nosed-- I wish we had 6 more of him to fill out the bottom lines-- Too bad he was a bit snake-bit when it came to scoring

[Ben Kenobi]

Don't worry about the bet, I don't think it was that official.

Go right ahead. I said I would if I lost, so pick one and I'll wear it until the end of the playoffs.

I was wrong, but I don't welsh out on bets.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Ben Kenobi


Go right ahead. I said I would if I lost, so pick one and I'll wear it until the end of the playoffs.

I was wrong, but I don't welsh out on bets.

Okay, be thankful I picked this one... I debated giving you something a lot more racy.

I don't know if it's too big or not for you (are you PolyPlus?). If it is I can resize.

[Ben Kenobi]

I used to, but not now.

Thanks Asher!

[Ben Kenobi]

You know I had a shirt just like that once. It's torn now.

[Asher]

The avatar looks good.

[Asher]

Tonight's game is interesting. It's in the Flames' best interest to win and hope Colorado loses tomorrow to get the 6th seed (vs Minnie). Else it'll be against SJ or Detroit, who are both scary.

Yet, Cujo is getting the start tonight. Yelle and Conroy are also sitting.

Loungo is supposedly getting the start for Vancouver. Who knows why.

[Ben Kenobi]

I'm not sure why they didn't play Sanford for the last few weeks.

Anyways, Canucks will be rebuilding now next year. They had lots of things they wanted to do last year, but contracts spoiled things.

Untouchable:

1. Roberto Luongo. 'Nuff said. He's the best goalie we've even had on the Vancouver Cancuks.

2. Mattias Ohlund. The Canucks need him for defense, and for his experience. Can play anywhere.

3. Edler. Young up and comer defensemen. Already playing starting time.

4. Mitchell. Has the heart, and comes to play hard every day.

5. Ryan Kesler. Not trading him for anything.

6. Alexandre Burrows. Same.


.................................................. ......................................

On the block.

Sedins. 80 plus points, but otherwise a disgusting offensive production. This was the worst offensive season for Vancouver ever, in terms of the top scoring player on the team.

Salo. Too injury prone for what he brings to the team.

Bieksa. NTC, but has taken a significant step backwards. May stay, may be used as part of trade bait.

Krajicek. Injured the entire year. May be used, may be traded.

Luc Bourdon. Up and coming defenseman. Not as solid as Edler. May be used as trade bait.

Pettinger. We just traded for him, and his production has been higher then Cooke. Trade bait.

.................................................. ...................................

Gone.

Marcus Naslund. Goodbye. Good riddance and goodbye. Wanted to let you go two years ago, but with 7 million plus, was untradeable.

Brendan Morrison. Excellent player, but is past his prime.

Taylor Pyatt/Isbister. The experiment has run it's course.

Aaron Miller. Good player, but he'll be gone.

.................................................. ...................................

Prospects/call ups.

Mason Raymond. Shannon, Jannik Hansen.

.................................................. ...................................

Biggest needs.

#1 Defenseman. We have an excellent defense core who is mostly young, but no true number one defenseman on par with the top names.

#2 True number one line. Sedins can't get it done. Naslund and Morrison aren't doing it.

#3 Right wingers. We have none. We had none last year and we need more right now,

.................................................. .................................

[Asher]

Looks reasonable to me.

But I'm not a Kesler fan and I wouldn't touch Burrows with a 10-foot pole.

One of the problems I saw with Vancouver is they weren't proud of their team. And I think Burrows is one reason not to be proud of the team.

[Ben Kenobi]

If I were to do it, here would be my trades.

1. Naslund
2. Daniel/Henrik Sedin.
3. Brendan Morrison. I'm not sure whether to keep him or trade him!
4. Sami Salo/Krajicek/Miller/Bieksa for 2 defenseman.

Lines:

1. ?
2. Burrows/Kesler/Hansen?
3. Raymond/Shannon/Pettinger
4. Richie /Linden/?

5.?

Defensemen

1. Ohlund 2. Bourdon
3. Mitchell 4. Weaver
5. Edler 6. ?

7.?

Luongo/Sanford.

That will clear quite a bit of money, without ruining the team. We need to get a real number one line.

[Ben Kenobi]

Burrows is there because he and Kesler have been the only ones playing.

[Asher]

I have to say, I'd hate the canucks a lot less if they got rid of players like Naslund and the Sedins.