AHL- Apolyton Hockey League 09/10 (II): We're very perverse

[notyoueither]

It was ~1 second after Iginla passed the puck.

Stortini could have been called for boarding.

I made a comment based on Iggy gets mugged later and from behind by an Oiler (Stortini?) which is clearly incorrect. It was a much cleaner hit than Iginla has been dishing out lately.

[Asher]

I would do our usual back and forth based on the absurdity of that comment, but there's no point.

Stortini is a goon and Stortini got away with a goonish, Stortini-esque play that should have been a penalty and was definitely dangerous.

You're still crying about the Souray injury, which is becoming increasingly pathetic.

[notyoueither]

Shucks. Thought I could get your goat.

Although, I read that Iginla did something similar to the Souray thing in the very next game (against Dallas).

Who here is crying, anyway? What I see is a couple of Flames fans who aren't satisfied by a win and have to cry about their hero getting knocked on his ass.

[Asher]

I'm satisfied with the win, but I reserve the right to complain about obviously awful officiating.

The Oilers had twice as many powerplay chances as the Flames that game, and there were boatloads of missed calls. Just shouldn't happen.

[notyoueither]

I think the number of penalties may have been reflective of the styles of play.

The Flames were being much more aggressive. The Oilers seemed to be playing rope-a-dope and hoping to get out of town without another injury to add to the pile of injured and ill. They certainly did not play the way I expected them to.

There are always a lot of possible penalties that do not get called. The referees have a lot of discretion. It isn't too surprising to me that a team that is forcing a lot more plays and being more physically aggressive is assessed more of the calls that are actually made. The refs do not always seek to even it up, and they shouldn't.

But, hey, if you expect consistency and even-handedness you just have to look to their bosses. Richards is not even fined for blowing through Boothe's head on a blind side coming from behind. I think you'll be waiting a while for your expectations to be met.

[Asher]

Richards should not have been suspended, because I have him in our league.

[Flubber]

Do you have season tickets?

a half set-- A good friend and I share them and divvy them up at season start--I find attending about 15-18 games during the regular season is around right for me

[Flubber]

Who here is crying, anyway? What I see is a couple of Flames fans who aren't satisfied by a win and have to cry about their hero getting knocked on his ass.

I didn't think I whined about anything-- I merely relayed what was maddening the crowd

I am quite satisfied with the win and the Flames overall play. I suspect Oilers fans are generally satisfied overall as well-- 6-3-1 is a far better record than I expect many fans feared. I mean they are 6-0-1 against anyone else other than the Flames

[Flubber]

I think the number of penalties may have been reflective of the styles of play.

The Flames were being much more aggressive. The Oilers seemed to be playing rope-a-dope and hoping to get out of town without another injury to add to the pile of injured and ill. They certainly did not play the way I expected them to.

There are always a lot of possible penalties that do not get called. The referees have a lot of discretion. It isn't too surprising to me that a team that is forcing a lot more plays and being more physically aggressive is assessed more of the calls that are actually made. The refs do not always seek to even it up, and they shouldn't.

While your analysis makes a certain kind of sense it is actually the opposite of what I find happens more often in a game. In most games, I see the harder skating and hitting team gets the other team running around and before you know it the more passive team takes a string of hooking and holding penalties since they are often a step behind.

[Asher]

Luongo comes through with the shutout in the last game of the week.

That tied it up 4-4 with Kontiki.

[Kontiki]

Sucks for me in our league, but it looks like Luongo is back in form in general. His numbers over the last five games are pretty damn good.

[Flubber]

Sucks for me in our league, but it looks like Luongo is back in form in general. His numbers over the last five games are pretty damn good.

That cannot be a surprise to anyone really. I think the surprise was that he could be as bad as he was (as compared to Luongo's traditional level of play). He is a proven regular season goaltender and I fully expect he will end the season toward the top of most stats

[Flubber]

I had a good week in my matchups even though neither of my teams posted stats that were that great


DRAFT -- I was pretty lucky to take all the close categories and go 7-0-1 and end the Skanky Skater's time at the very top of the standings. I actually didn't love my team when I drafted it (always felt I was JUST missing out on the player I really wanted) but this team could be ok . I do get the Sex Panthers this week in an early battle of the leaders. I am not loving how this week lines up for me -- My three goalies only have 7 starts between them , and only SIX are usable, plus there are two sets of back to backs where goalies might sit. Jarome is starting to look better but only plays twice. The Sex Panthers meanwhile get seven starts from TWO goalies with zero back to backs. But c'est a vie ( Asher if you thought the scheduling screwed you on goalies last week, I figure you would have a stroke if you had my setup this week)-- But it is what it is-- I'll have more goalie games elsewhere


Auction

I always liked this team better than my draft one and was pleasantly surprised to edge the Sex Panthers after trailing early in the week. AO was more human this week after his superhuman start and I was having difficulty in goaltending as Carolina just isn't winning. So I was very pleased to edge out a win. So I go from being tied with the Sex Panthers to being tied with Ice Hawks. The good news is that the Ice Hawks face a tough week in the Sex Panthers. I get the Durham Compactors, a team that actually has enough talent to win some categories even when essentially on autopilot Should be interesting!



OTHER

Oh ya-- I tried two autopick leagues at yahoo using the same draft list for both. My teams are pretty different though as the drafts were very unsimilar. How different ? Well one finished this week 9-1-0 to vault me into second but trailing by a lot. My other fell to fifth in its league with a 3-5-2 and spoiled my hope of having a week where all four of my teams were victorious LOL-- Oh well--

[Flubber]

On the Oilers struggles in the last couple of games-- I heard them talking on sports radio here how a flu bug was going through the team-- So perhaps 2 straight poorer efforts is attributable to that.

Leaving aside the rhetoric, I wasn't sure what to expect from the Oil this year. Two years ago they made a late run and papeared to be a tream destined for something great with many "promising" players. But for some reason , last year kind of fell apart. This year? I am not sure yet. Are these first few games an aberration or will the Oil ascend to the playoff level?

All I know for certain is it will be tough sledding for everyone-- UP is down and down is up in the topsy turvey west-- Or is anyone going to claim they forsaw Colorado and LA being 1-2 in the West? How about Detroit in 12th ?? ( Deep playoff run plus a European start or something else?)

Colorado has to be the story so far though. Many pundits had them picked for alst in the conference-- I know its only early but 8-1-2??? WOW

OH and I know a lot of team are "homers " but aren't the Wild taking it to the extreme-- Hell they are 3-0 at home and 0-7 on the road

[Flubber]

ohh ya -- Before I forget-- Any Leafs fans out there??? LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

The East so far makes more sense-- The leafs and isles suck-- The Pens and caps lead the conference and 6 of 8 teams in playoff spots are the same as last year . The two that dropped out so far are no big surprise (Montreal and carolina) and both may be fighting for a spot all year

My biggest eastern surprise is Buffalo. They have only played 8 games but 6-1-1 is a great start.


Hmmmm- it is shaping up to be a fun season