NHL Offseason Thread -- Vancouver Edition (NHL Offseason / NHL Golf Tourney)

[Asher]

That is a VERY OLD FLAMES jersey, and it is still NOT ORANGE. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU.

----

The canucks matched the offer sheet for Bernier.

2.5 mil / yr for 3 years for a player with very questionable attitude. He'll fit right in.

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Mr Snuggles

Cammalleri is slated to be a center, according to Keenan, though he can play C/LW.

Interesting-- I was thinking Lombardi and Langkow as the centres but since Lombardi has never quite stepped up his game consistently, perhaps they are hesitant to have him centre the second line. I don't really see Lombardi as winger as there's more mucking on the boards and he is far better in more open ice.


Also you have Boyd on the top 2 lines in a couple of your combinations-- I hope he is ready to make the jump .


A 4th line of Nystrom-Prust and Moss ?? Well its a young line and both Nystrom last year and Prust the year before demonstrated a LOT of jump-- They can hit , antagonize and fight(with middleweights)-- Moss? I thought he might be a scorer when he first came up and still hold out some hopes-- Injuries were a big factor for him last year and I am really hoping that he earns better than 4th line minutes

Conroy on the 3rd line -- yup-- thats the right spot for him and I would try Moss or Boyd or even Glencross on the second line (moving Cammi to centre or Lombo up instead of Conroy)-- I think third line without the big pressure to score is where he should be

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Mr Snuggles
That is a VERY OLD FLAMES jersey, and it is still NOT ORANGE. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU.

Was this ever a matter of debate? I must have missed it.

It doesn't matter anyway as orange is a fine color-- BUt my 5 year old knows his colors (Crayola is his palette) and to him a Flames Jersey is red-- Its red to me when I look at it and its red to the people that create the "Sea of Red" and the "Red Mile".

So earlier I was legitimately confused when Ben referenced Bert wearing orange . . . But what do I know? Perhaps the Flames Jersey is Green

[Asher]

Originally posted by Flubber
Interesting-- I was thinking Lombardi and Langkow as the centres but since Lombardi has never quite stepped up his game consistently, perhaps they are hesitant to have him centre the second line. I don't really see Lombardi as winger as there's more mucking on the boards and he is far better in more open ice.

The problem as I see it with Lombardi is he's got potential but he's never given enough time with quality scoring linemates to demonstrate it. I was looking at his Dejardins numbers (www.behindthenet.ca), and his QUALTEAM (quality of teammates) metric last season was -0.21. Compare this to Conroy with 0.42 and Langkow with 0.44. If you put him with grinders, he ain't going to get a lot of points either.

It's a similar story with Boyd. His QUALTEAM is -0.32. He needs to play on a line, at least for a dozen or so games in a row, with scoring players. I don't think he fits in well on the 3rd or 4th line because he's a scoring player, but he doesn't get the opportunities on the top lines to do that and the lack of teammates that score on his lines inhibit him. I'd love to see Boyd and Lombardi both on the 2nd or 1st line for sizable chunks of next season. Maybe even Moss also.

A 4th line of Nystrom-Prust and Moss ?? Well its a young line and both Nystrom last year and Prust the year before demonstrated a LOT of jump-- They can hit , antagonize and fight(with middleweights)

I like the young energy line idea.

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Mr Snuggles

The problem as I see it with Lombardi is he's got potential but he's never given enough time with quality scoring linemates to demonstrate it. I was looking at his Dejardins numbers (www.behindthenet.ca), and his QUALTEAM (quality of teammates) metric last season was -0.21. Compare this to Conroy with 0.42 and Langkow with 0.44. If you put him with grinders, he ain't going to get a lot of points either.

It's a similar story with Boyd. His QUALTEAM is -0.32. He needs to play on a line, at least for a dozen or so games in a row, with scoring players. I don't think he fits in well on the 3rd or 4th line because he's a scoring player, but he doesn't get the opportunities on the top lines to do that and the lack of teammates that score on his lines inhibit him. I'd love to see Boyd and Lombardi both on the 2nd or 1st line for sizable chunks of next season. Maybe even Moss also.


I like the young energy line idea.

I like the idea of a young energy line too-- Fourth liners like Nilson, Primeau, Smith and Yelle all had spome positives but high energy on a consistent baisi wasn't part of it.

INteresting stats for Lombardi and Boyd. I didn't check the stat myself but I would say it shows they have low scoring linemates perhaps-- That doesn't surprise me since both were third-liners a lot and heck Boyd was not infrequently a healthy scratch IIRC-- I agree totally that your ice-time and role can shape what you can show-- But it doesn't determine it totally. Even if given 6 minutes, you can do SOMETHING in that time to show you deserve more-- Nystrom was often that way last year-- he would throw his body around-- show demonstrable energy such that you often had to notice him.

Lombo? -- far too many games when you wouldn't really notice he was particularly fast. To me he needs to show more grit-- I don't expect him to throw around the body a lot (too small!) BUT he can try to beat the d-guy on a beeline to the net instead of a circle of the far perimeter-- Too often I saw him just doing a lot of circling. I hope he gets a chance.

[Asher]

jfhjfhjdsahfjhdf

The Leafs are just crazy

They just paid $200,000 to buy the rights to a stay-at-home Swedish defenseman (Jonas Frogren) -- one the Flames drafted 10 years ago in the 8th round.

He's never played in the NHL, only the Swedish league. In 47 games, he had 1 point and was even.

What the ****?

[Asher]

And it gets better. Apparently the Leafs don't even know how to draft a contract, since the NHL rejected the contract since the guy needs to sign an entry-level contract, not a standard contract (on the grounds of, you know, him not playing in the NHL before or being signed to an NHL team before).

[Asher]

And my hockey blog just won some kind of competition I was not aware of. God damnit I am awesome.

http://www.thenhlarena.com/index.php?showtopic=50825

[-Jrabbit]

Apparently you're in the playoffs.
Congrats on the win.

(BTW, I've read your blog a few times. Not bad at all.)

[Asher]

I'm trying to convince Leanne to post her pic because she's a hot bisexual hockey fan and that'd instantly increase our hits by like 10000%. But she's modest.

(And a graduate student in computer science -- will the improbabilities ever cease?)

[Asher]

Vancouver signs Demitra, $4m/yr for 2 years.

Seems to me like they had no other choice, but it's a questionable signing since they've already got a bunch of floaty playmaking Europeans. They need grit forwards that can actually score.

Whatever.

[Ben Kenobi]

Have you ever met a Vancouver signing you actually liked?

Demitra is a floater yes, but so was Naslund, and Naslund was getting 7 million. Now we replaced Naslund with someone younger and more talented for 3 million less. Good deal.

Now we need 3 more top 6 forwards and we'll be set. One to replace Morrison, and another two rightwingers.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Ben Kenobi
Have you ever met a Vancouver signing you actually liked?

Luongo.

Demitra is a floater yes, but so was Naslund, and Naslund was getting 7 million. Now we replaced Naslund with someone younger and more talented for 3 million less. Good deal.

You have a point in that you signed a floating European player who is in the declining portion of his career to an overpriced contract. Keep in mind he managed his ~50 points last season playing with Gaborik, and there's no one on Vancouver's roster with close to that skill level.

Vancouver so far is a worse team now than they were last year, which is saying a lot. They still have lots of cap space left, but there's slim pickins left...

[Ben Kenobi]

You have a point in that you signed a floating European player who is in the declining portion of his career to an overpriced contract.

As opposed to getting rid of a similar overpaid floater who cost 3 million dollars more?

Keep in mind he managed his ~50 points last season playing with Gaborik, and there's no one on Vancouver's roster with close to that skill level.

Gaborik was injured most of last year. 50 points is the same as Naslund got.

Vancouver so far is a worse team now than they were last year, which is saying a lot. They still have lots of cap space left, but there's slim pickins left...

How have they gotten worse? The only players they've lost are Naslund and Morrison. They have a line of Kesler/Burrows and Pettinger that will only improve from last year, plus they have Shannon and Raymond who have a year more under their belt.

Two things that make me happy about the Demitra contract is that it is only 4 million and 2 years.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Ben Kenobi
As opposed to getting rid of a similar overpaid floater who cost 3 million dollars more?

He was already gone, he was a UFA. Naslund is irrelevant at this point. Vancouver had tons of cap space and they are screwing it up by signing the wrong players to slightly overpriced contracts and offering Sundin a brutally overpriced contract.

Gaborik was injured most of last year. 50 points is the same as Naslund got.

What the ****?

Jesus, Ben.

Gaborik played in 77 games last season, he missed only 5. That doesn't consitute being injured "most of the year".

Demitra, on the other hand, played 68 games last season. In his lengthy NHL career, only once has he played a full 82 game season.

How have they gotten worse? The only players they've lost are Naslund and Morrison. They have a line of Kesler/Burrows and Pettinger that will only improve from last year, plus they have Shannon and Raymond who have a year more under their belt.

You lost more point-makers than you've received in return so far, and the rest of the players available aren't that enticing. And Vancouver was already terrible at scoring last season. When you mention a couple 30 point guys -- most of which are known as pests and not scorers -- as a counterpoint to the argument that you guys got worse, you lose. Pettinger also? Mister -11, 13 points all season Pettinger makes you a better team?