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

[Flubber]

lets see

Bourque-Ollie-Iggy
Theo-Langkow-Moss
Dawes-Boyd- Glencross
Conroy- Nystrom-Prust-goon-Jaffray etc etc

I'd like more true snipers but that doesn't look too too bad

[Asher]

Flames release Theo.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=292512

[Flubber]

Flames release Theo.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=292512

I am not surprised at all based om what I saw in the one game I attended, But it seemed like all the reports were that he was improving rapidly and he did get 4 points

[Flubber]

lets see

Bourque-Ollie-Iggy
Theo-Langkow-Moss
Dawes-Boyd- Glencross
Conroy- Nystrom-Prust-goon-Jaffray etc etc

I'd like more true snipers but that doesn't look too too bad

hmmm



Bourque-Ollie-Iggy
Glencross-Langkow-Moss
Dawes-Conroy-Boyd-
Nystrom-Prust-goon-Jaffray etc etc

[Asher]

Rob "Hockey Jesus" Schremp is now on waivers...

[notyoueither]

Yeah, it seems to be over for him in Edmonton.

Funny player. He never significantly improved in areas he was told would need to improve to make it. Things like skating that were entirely within his power to control.

[Asher]

He always struck me as a bit of a stuck up egomaniac, doubt he took people's suggestions too seriously.

I'm also perplexed why JF Jacques is slated for top line duty in Edmonton next to Horcoff and Hemsky? The guy is 9 games away for setting an NHL record for games played with only a single point.

[Asher]

Well, this is disappointing. He showed lots of promise.

http://blog.dispatch.com/cbj/2009/09/blue_jackets_acquire_anton_str.shtml

Blue Jackets Acquire Anton Stralman

The Blue Jackets have acquired defenseman Anton Stralman from the Calgary Flames for a third-round pick in the 2010 entry draft, The Dispatch has learned.

GM Scott Howson has confirmed the trade to The Dispatch.

Stralman, 23 is a skilled defenseman with a right shot. The Flames had a glut of defensemen who can run a power play, and they wanted to move Stralman rather than risk putting him on waivers to send him to the minor leagues.

The Blue Jackets didn't think he'd fall to them as a waiver claim, so they were willing to make a trade. Stralman is set to make $731,000 this season, the final year of his entry-level deal. He's a restricted free agent in 2010.

"He’s got some puck-moving ability and some power play potential," Howson said. "He’s still a young player in the league, so he has a lot of upside, too."

As a follow-up move, the Blue Jackets today released D Martin Skoula from his tryout agreement.

[notyoueither]

He always struck me as a bit of a stuck up egomaniac, doubt he took people's suggestions too seriously.

I'm also perplexed why JF Jacques is slated for top line duty in Edmonton next to Horcoff and Hemsky? The guy is 9 games away for setting an NHL record for games played with only a single point.

Pat Quinn is communing with the ghost of John Ferguson.

He wants larger, meaner players on all lines. He'll use the skilled players in pairs and plug in the grit where and when it seems desirable.

Jacques is helped by being a really good skater for a man his size, and he hits like a freight train, when he hits. And he does have hands, although a snake had bit them for the first part of his time in the NHL.

[notyoueither]

McKenzie sums it up pretty well. And Quinn doesn't want to coach that team.

http://www.tsn.ca/columnists/bob_mckenzie/?id=292305

6 Cities in 6 Days - Oilers still have questions up front
Bob McKenzie
9/23/2009 7:10:26 PM

You have to be careful with the Edmonton Oilers.

A year ago we were all guilty of being overly optimistic about their prospects for the NHL season and we all know what happened - no playoffs and massive disappointment.

Now, though, we have to be careful not to be overly pessimistic because this is an Oiler team that can compete for a playoff spot. That said, competing for one and getting one are two different things.

There is no reason to believe Nikolai Khabibulin won't give the Oilers the kind of goaltending that will give them a chance to win every night. And if Lubomir Visnovsky and Sheldon Souray stay healthy, and Tom Gilbert and Denis Grebeshkov return to their form of two seasons ago, the Oilers' defence is actually quite solid.

But, there are some serious question marks up front. The failed Dany Heatley trade illustrates the glaring absence of a legitimate scoring winger to play on the top line with Shawn Horcoff and Ales Hemsky.

Speaking of that top line, Horcoff is most certainly a capable NHL centre, but he may be miscast as a true No. 1 pivot.

The Oilers desperately need Patrick O'Sullivan and/or Dustin Penner or have a kid like Jordan Eberle step up to score some goals, although Eberle's long term prospects may be best served by going back to junior.

Edmonton is not without some skilled offensive players, but in Sam Gagner, Andrew Cogliano and Mike Comrie, they may have too much of the smaller skilled type forward and not enough size and physical play from their top nine forwards.

The other concern is that the Oilers are, for all intents and purposes, a cap team. They don't have a lot of financial flexibility to address the glaring needs up front. If they're going to do that it will have to be through trades and that's very difficult to do in today's NHL.

Still, the Oilers, if their kids bounce back after a sub-par season, should have enough to battle down to the wire for a playoff spot and if they stay healthy, they may sneak in. But it's far from a sure thing and there is little or no margin for error or underachievement this season.

Be sure to follow TSN NHL Insider Bob McKenzie on Twitter at twitter.com/TSNBobMcKenzie.

It sounds like there will be no conventional 3-4 checking line - energy line. He'll use the skilled smurfs in pairs with larger players who can keep up riding shotgun for each pair. He has Jacques, Penner, Stone, Stortini... for the grit. Moreau is up in the air as to his roll, and Pisani seems to be on his way out.

Should be an interesting year. I think it will either work really well, or it will bomb. There won't be a lot of middle ground. Secure playoff spot, or lottery pick. I can live with either.

[notyoueither]

Incidentally, good business for Theo and the Flames.

Fleury has to be close to king of Calgary ATM. Even if the Flames do not give him a job, he'll have a big leg up on getting something productive going.

Even the odd calloused Oilers fan was pulling for him. I hope he makes it in the league that counts, life.

[Asher]

The Islanders have claimed Rob Schremp.

[notyoueither]

I wish him well. I'm sure he'll make it if he can get into a system friendly to his skill-set.

[Asher]

A lot of poolies are pulling for a rebound: http://www.calgaryherald.com/sports/...271/story.html

Back to school for Dion

The mentor is back tutoring his one-time star pupil. School is most definitely in session. And if a couple of raps on the knuckles with the blackboard pointer or a period or two in detention is what’s needed, so be it.

“Oh, if anybody can bring out the best in Dion,’’ says Craig Conroy, “it’s Brent (Sutter). Dion knows him. He respects him. They know what makes each other tick.

“It might not always be fun, he’s demanding, but Brent is in the business of making players better. Dion understands that better than anyone. With him, it’s details, details, details. Brent’s a teacher. He lays it out in front of you, exactly what he wants, making sure you understand, and then expects you to follow through on the deal.’’

This certainly shapes up as a deal-making/breaking year of reckoning for Dion Phaneuf, the YouTube defenceman who slipped from grace last season. Touted as the next dominant force on the blueline, the heir apparent to Scott Stevens and a soon-to-be surefire Norris Trophy winner, he was suddenly being chided as a classic case of too-much-too-soon. The Hollywood starlet girlfriend. The $6.5-million-per-annum contract. The face on the cover of the NHL EA Sports game for 2009. A Norris runner-up the year before. All the baubles and bangles associated with fast-track success.

As happens when things go awry, the spoils of conquest are quickly thrown back at you.

“People forget,’’ says Sutter, “that Dion is still a young man.’’

By consensus, Sutter shapes up as the one to get Phaneuf back on the rails, point him back toward his true destiny. This is, after all, the sculptor who took a mine of raw materials and shaped a raw-boned defenceman into a top draft pick during their four years together an hour and half north in Red Deer.

“That was junior, this is pro,’’ says a shrugging Phaneuf, downplaying the connection. “It’s been four years since Brent coached me. Obviously, he’s a great coach and we’re familiar with each other. But beyond that . . .

“Is this a big season? For our team, certainly. We haven’t done in the playoffs what we’d expected; what we’re capable of.

“Is this a big season for me? Yes, it is.’’

No coincidence that Phaneuf’s stellar, breakout rookie year in the NHL flourished under the autocratic rule of another Sutter, namely the GM. The Sutter mantra doesn’t vary much; they all preach the Old Testament of the hockey bible from a bully pulpit, extolling the tried-and-true values of commitment, accountability and toil.

The tough love approach worked before. By any sane reasoning, it could again.

“I expect things done a certain way,’’ says Brent Sutter, “and if they aren’t, there are . . . consequences.’’

If Sutter is unable to stir a reawakening in Phaneuf, you’d have to wonder if the Flames might not, at least subconsciously, have to

take a long, hard look at the situation.

This is, after all, a 24-year-old with staggering market potential.

There can be no excuses now. For the first time since turning pro, he’s had a little of the shine buffed off the old apple, which is usually a redemptive, if sour-tasting, dose of castor oil.

The 2009 NHL all-star game snub was a sobering slap of reality. He has his old coach to crack the whip, a fresh start, and shored up blueline support in the form of Jay Bouwmeester.

As an added incentive, there’s that little matter of a Canadian Olympic Team audition from now through December. Nothing’s guaranteed, naturally, but one thing is certain: Dion Phaneuf, circa 2008-2009 wouldn’t survive so demanding a cut.

A drop-off in offensive productivity, 60 points to 47, was just the start last season. He used to be responsible for more pancakes than Aunt Jemima. But even Phaneuf’s trademark Terminator-force hits waned. Plummeting from a +12 to a -11 in one season, on a team that finished 16 games over .500 ain’t liable to print you a quick ticket into the Hall of Fame, either, unless you’re just another sightseer in line to buy one. Too often, he looked disinterested or lost in his own zone. Quietly, privately, there were muttered complaints about a lack of listening.

Sutter, be sure, will broach no such guff.

“Hey, I know Dion. I understand him. I’m fully aware of the pros and cons in his game. In the offensive zone, his natural ability just takes over. No problem there. In the other two zones, that’s where he needs work. He has to understand situations in every part of the rink; he needs to play, like our other defencemen, with structure.

“No one guy is bigger than the group. Dion knows where I’m coming from.

“A lot of great things have happened to Dion. But he needs work. Regardless of how much talent anyone has, it’s still a process that any player has to go through.

“But the big thing is, he cares. He’s a proud person.’’

Actually, even before puck drop to open 2009-2010, there’s already been a change in the predatory No. 3. This year, a more outwardly engaging Phaneuf arrived for training camp. There’s a more easygoing, less of a contesting-the-world attitude about him, which has caused suspicious media folk loitering around the locker-room to wonder aloud: “Who IS that man and what has he done with the real Dion Phaneuf?!”

What ultimately matters, though, is finding the real Dion Phaneuf and putting him back on the ice. No one doubts the quality of the materials. The best way, the right person to mine and re-polish the resources to a lustrous sheen is the trick now.

The next great NHL defenceman? At 24, Dion Phaneuf still has that staggering sort of potential. Which is only a part of why his old boss is here.

“Everybody in Calgary, everyone throughout the league, knows how good Dion is,’’ says Conroy. “And I really think he’s just scratched the surface. And, like I said, Brent’s the perfect coach to continue the development.

“We think Dion can be the best D-man in the league. We WANT him to be the best D-man in the league. And if he is . . .’’ A flicker of a smile. “. . . with the players we already had in here, and the guys like Jay (Bouwmeester) that we’d added, we’re going to have a heckuva team.’

[Guynemer]

So, we don't have an IR slot in our league, huh?