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Everything posted by IBatch
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Good one! What are the odds of the Canucks making the playoffs, versus the odds of EP winning an Art Ross or Selke? If we make the playoffs, Tochett likely is a finalist in this tough division. Nobody has us making them this year (although don't think any experts have us picking top ten either - so Tochett would need to get us into at least a top three in division spot). Think the team has better odds of 96-100points, then EP scoring 140ish (which probably means he sweeps all the hardware like Bobby Orr, Gretzky used too, Lafleur did too). Personally think that EP has too much established competition to improve on his 7th overall spot, plus McDavid could play 60 games and still win it. So went with Tochett as the most likely, EP the most likely player (Selke). Stone coming back, slots him in right away as a contender for a finalist of Selke, Bergeron is out. Even if EP gets his face offs up to 50%, he's got some stiff competition..Barkov, Marner, Hirschier, Stone and others. I do see EP having his run at hardware. Probably in that 27-30 range just like the Sedins and Naslund, QHs would need the seas to part and or have a year like EK just did.
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Messier comes to town, Lays stocks crash. The Sedins do a PTO with EDM shocking! Because a flight to Vancouver is cancelled after coming home from a trip home, and we're like, why not? Holland doesn't sign them because they ask for 22% of the cap.
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Linden always showed up in the playoffs.
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What does that have to do with this thread? BTW, like ISIS, Afghans, 911, whomever the "enemy" was for you growing up, maybe Russia now in the Ukraine - the West was at war with the USSR back then. Wasn't until expansion that the league simply had to look elsewhere to find talent. Trickled in during the 70's, then the Stastny's risked their and their families life to come over and play. Eventually the wall fell, and the NHL finally got what they needed. Makarov, Krutov, Larionov, Mogilny, Federov, Bure, and more guys like Selanne (FIN), Nedved, Jagr, Kovelev etc etc etc etc . Hope you got to watch a few of them play. Awesome players. Makarov and Irbe stopped the mighty Wings after an epic season. Nobody I know was upset to see the league find the talent to replace the talent. It's naive to think athletes are in better shape today as well. The almost 3 peat TB a team doing a volleyball day at the beach made me laugh out loud. I've seen beer leagues compiled of construction crews look in better shape. Ignorance is bliss for sure.
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A couple weird comments. "Gartner would dominate the 90's and 2000's" whoops ... And if you go back and watch his record at 36... the guy did say "what could he do at 25" but guess he didn't do that math. At 36, there were a dozen guys who skated 13.5 or less laps either qualifying or in the competition round. They made them qualify to actually skate infront of the TV. Hedican, was one of the 13.5ish guys. But the game is "faster" today. Also he started with Bobby Orr as the "guy" the revolutionized the sport. But there was another guy before him, named Bobby Hull, who is still considered one of the fastest skaters all-time despite any clocked times like they do today. Power skating from one side of the rink to the other was a standard drill. Something any player in the 80's did anyways. So glad they did the oval eventually. Glad they brought up the Larkin time, and do find it curious that Conner McDavid decided to back off the event, one thing I agree is why injure yourself just to please the clock/fans. Bure. Still haven't seen anyone skate as fast as he did with the puck (sorry McDavid). It is a good case study. Raymond and Hagelin and Hedican. Super fast guys. If you can't play the game and compute the puck on your stick and what to do with it ... Messier was also a very fast skater. You have to be able to do the other things that go with it as well. Coffey is probably the best skater ever with apologies to Orr and McDavid. McDavid versus Bure would be interesting. Not a bad video. Power skating back in the 80's and 90's was all about lengthening the stride. Not sure if that's changed with the drills. Going from 0-60, that's still Bure. And Coffey still the best skater i've ever seen. It did seem like there was a boat load of guys in the 90's that could burn rubber, yet Gartner was the man. Something to consider. Makes me wonder what other 80's and 70's and 60's guys could do and so on. Good video, Linden was fast! Thanks for posting Biestra.
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Let's hope his Alien DNA, does the same magic it did after he was drafted and worked on his shot. EP recently said he wants to be the best he can at both sides of the puck. And faceoffs are his focus too (getting stronger). If he manages that, then the Selke could be within his grasp. Datsyuk comps are starting to materialize.
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Think EP can for sure and likely will. QHs next up. Demko likely a Conn Smythe more than a Vezina, which of course id welcome. Still a lot of maybe about his career.
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Pronger got robbed of the Conn Smythe, more than any player in the history of the game. Was like watching Gretzky in his prime, completely dominating. Controlled the entire pace of the game for half of every game. Al Mac - Pronger, might be the best duo in the history of the game. EDM... so close. And mostly because of Pronger. As for Borque. Guy was a tank. Did it all. There is more to the game, than just being slick. Lidstrom did everything well, but nothing top level (compared to the top level, goal scoring, assists, hitting, other things that also matter), rule changes helped his career for sure. Others too. Borque did everything top level. His last season, 22 years in, was second in Norris voting. On some bad/mediocre at best Bruins teams, before requesting a trade, finished - gulp - 7th! in Norris voting, otherwise 1-4 like clockwork, against some great defenseman. Lidstrom started and ended on great Detroit teams, aside from his last couple seasons. Konstantinov, was the man until he had his accident. And Holland said "Had a higher trajectory at the time, than Lidstrom did". My friends laugh at Lidstrom being the man and when he retired, some folks thinking he was better than Al Mac, Potvin, Orr, etc. It's simply goofy. If he played on crap teams...well, he sure didn't. Larry Murphy level offensive instincts, definitely not a scary guy to go against one on one and think your life is in danger, maybe getting burned that's it. He was a great D, but not close to the greatest, and that's why I bring this up more then I should. But I am happy those that got to watch him play, got to see what that looks like. The 2000's weren't very good. Potvin's Islanders also weren't very good when he arrived, and look what he did, right away to that team. Who did Gretzky "fear" the most in his career? Potvin, and rightly so. 19 consecutive playoff rounds ... retired at 34, and didn't start right away either given the draft rules at the time. Another tank. Nobody well ever get 13 first all-star team and 6 second team votes (Borque). That's a record I bet will stand forever, like Gretzky's 215 points. Or Roy's 10 OT wins in 1993 playoffs.
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Yes, I added something to that. That said he was having a typical great Perry season, around 7th in scoring, and then had his magical run of 22 or so games. Deserving? Maybe. Maybe not. Perry's Hart trophy is used as an example of why all Harts are not the same. In comparison, and Daniel barely lost to him...Gretzky is the only guy to have a monopoly on first place votes in the history of the game. Orr had Espo, Clarke and others splitting votes. Taylor Halls would be a decent comp in recent history, where not all trophies are the same. Borque, Orr, Potvin, Robinson, Chelios, Al Mac, Leetch, and Coffey IMO, had a much harder time winning Norris trophies, than any other defenseman in the league. Edit: It appears to be going full circle now. Makar, Heiskanen, QHs, Fox, with the older guard of Hedman, Josi, Carlson, Karlson etc. It's been a long, long time since i've seen that sort of quality, all at one time. It's also why i'd have Borque a tier above Lidstrom and know that won't make the younger generation happy. Guess who taught him the ways of the NHL... Brad Park. A guy that never won but always the bridesmaid. Edit: Weber or Chara should have won the Norris Lidstrom's last season. Funny and a curiosity, that two players possibly were robbed of a trophy that year. Believe the writers, if anything, get caught up a little bit on a good story. Lidstrom tying Harvey was a "good story", despite being a minus player, and IMO, should have been at best second plaice that year, or maybe just a finalist. Think they did Harvey dirty there. At least THN still has Harvey ahead of Lidstrom, but one junior writer, voted him the best all-time, ahead of Orr (wow!!), which also did the 1999 list very dirty. The guys who at the time, had guys who watched Shore play. Perry's first place votes, knackered D. Sedins chance at winning it. 67 to 51. Perry didn't expect to win it either.
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That's funny. Because there are just as many Western voters. Wonder whom is voting Miller in for Selke votes 3 of the last 4 years... check it out, you might be surprised. The culture of victimhood connected to this franchise, is something i've never really bought in too, or liked. "Everyone hates us, we don't care" ... that actually promotes exactly what the statements about. Annoying petulant, pouty stuff (we aren't alone with this, Buffalo has suffered almost as much as us, and TO fans are getting close ...1967 is a long time ago). They sure appreciated the Sedins and Kesler when they were around right? Same as Naslund. Perry is the only one, that you could for sure debate was a weak winner. Wouldn't say Daniel was robbed of his Hart though, Perry did score a goal per game the final 22 or so games to put ANA on his back and drag them into the show. And everyone is noticing EP right now. Of the guys we've had that have won trophy's, nobody was miles ahead of the next guy. Not all trophies are the same. Only Gretzky managed to have a run of clobbering his competition, and Orr. First place Hart votes ... for example. And a couple times, a player won a trophy, based one vote, or just a few. Were the Eastern voters jealous of Gretzky? Nobody in the history of the game, and rightly so, managed to garner more first place votes by such a margin.
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Went to reply No, but it also said to submit at a trophy anyways. Went with Selke and EP. Really, it's most likely Tochett. It makes more sense he wins than anyone else at this point. A healthy Mark Stone likely bumps EP down the Selke list, or at least provides a tough opponent for that trophy. Even with Bergeron out. If Tochett gets this team to the playoffs, he for sure will be a finalist. Hart is locked in likely, either McDavid or if he goes down, Draisatl maybe, and a half dozen other likely candidates, EP one of them if he improves on last season AND we make the playoffs. EP is the most likely player to win any hardware for sure. Masterson for Pearson too.
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[Report] QMJHL Bans Fighting
IBatch replied to Drive-By Body Pierce's topic in General Hockey Discussion
The game has been trending towards women's hockey for awhile. One more step taken. Yes things needed to change to help protect the guys doing the toughest job in hockey. Protected them so well they don't have jobs at all anymore. I'd suggest anyone who hasn't watched Ice Gaurdians, does so. Some interesting data on there. Know some people that stopped going to games already, one from the lockout. Sure they will find new fans, but the golden era of hockey has come and passed us by. We won't ever see a rivalry like Detroit/Avs again. Or Boston Habs, Habs Nords, Battle of Alberta. That's sad. -
[Signing] Panthers sign Oliver Ekman-Larsson
IBatch replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in Trades, Rumours, Signings
No kidding. Where did he buy his house? Surrey? And why wouldn't he do some research first! -
Actually Zadina was supposed to go 3-4. QHs went close to around where he was supposed too, a little bit early on some lists and can't remember any who had him in the top five. The lists I follow all had Zadina ahead of QHs. Bouchard was also ahead of him on some too. EDM didn't even have a jersey ready for him, because he was supposed to go 5-7. The debate was Svecknikov or Zadina at the time ... 2-4. Of course Dahlin was going number one. QHs vs Adam Boqvist was a debate too. Who should go ahead of whom. Surprised both the small D's went before Bouchard and Dobson. Brady T was considered a legit 2-4 pick too. MTL went off board though. Picking the best ranked center of the draft ahead of guys who supposedly were better. Edit: For sure some luck for us meant we got the man we wanted. He didn't really fall on our lap though. I didn't mind the pick at the time, but didn't get why another LHD after OJ so recent. Was hoping Brady T might slip.
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[Signing] Maple Leafs re-sign Auston Matthews
IBatch replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in Trades, Rumours, Signings
Reaves intangibles matter, especially when the stakes are high and it's pretty easy to just run a guy and knock him out of a series. That's his purpose. Klingberg used to be a lot better ... does he have anything left in the tank? Hard to know for sure. At least they have a RHD power play quarter back option, which isn't bad depth. Domi and Bertuzzi ... good additions. -
For me it was either Dobson or Bouchard, and i'm sure you know which way I was leaning. Just had an impossible time getting around QHs height and size, and also felt we needed a RHD, JB seemed to only ever draft LHDs. Before the draft he looked like the 12-13 year old kid who was waiting for his growth spurt when me and my brothers grew up, .. seeing him and Edler side by side after a play actually made me laugh out load a couple of times, took some time to get used to. Wasn't completely against it, the skill was undeniable, figured we could always move him upfront, he was sure no Chris Chelios (small d-men from earlier era's), who even fought Tony Twist once and was freakishly strong for his size. Games changed. But one thing that I loved about QHs scouting cards, was his compete was 5/5, and times have a changed too. Only other D's close his size I remember doing well, Rafalksi and Brian Campbell, and of course Housley. A part of me still wonders how he's going to endure rigours of a perrenial playoff team, Vegas made him a virtual non-factor pretty quickly. Actually did the same thing to Stetcher, decided to start putting the puck on their side whenever they were on the ice, it worked. Myers was the only guy (with Motte and Demko), that seemed to be able to handle that size of team and constant pressure. QHs was fine against MIN and St. Louis, and seems to be durable and driven. Love him now just to be clear, and in no way expect Bouchard to be a better D-man, other than maybe because of circumstance putting up a lot of points. QHs can control the pace. Like Brian Campbell could. He was CHI best D when we had that rivalry until he was off to Florida.
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NHL Hockey Trivia Discussion Thread
IBatch replied to Elias Pettersson's topic in General Hockey Discussion
For sure. It's too bad he couldn't keep it up after the lockout into his mid 30's, and more so that the Sedins didn't peak early while they were doing the West Coast Express... even Clouiter could of got a final run in there if that was the case. After 32 he was pretty much done. Naslund was a fabulous player for us. Know this will be unpopular, but he gave Mark Messier a lot of credit for becoming the player he became, makes up for some of it, especially considering Linden came back. -
NHL Hockey Trivia Discussion Thread
IBatch replied to Elias Pettersson's topic in General Hockey Discussion
Yep! As far as I know, Naslund leads the all-time Canucks with 3, and did that in 3 consecutive years...dead puck era stuff too. He did that ages 28,29,30... -
Hey aGENT. Remember when I was super pissed we didn't draft Bouchard? 6'2", RHD, best backwards skater and was overtaking OJ his draft plus one in London? Just going to put this out there ... QHs was a better pick. Own that. However, Bouchard just scored a pile of points in the playoffs ... Like Paul Coffey level stuff ... and some have Bouchard getting more points next season. Lol.
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[Signing] Maple Leafs re-sign Auston Matthews
IBatch replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in Trades, Rumours, Signings
Bruins, TB and Florida ... it's a pretty tough division to go through. First you need to make it. For TO, they've had to play a contender the first round, since they got the Mathews band together. Agree they've got some patsies too. But all those teams aside from the Habs (who weren't so bad a couple years ago), are also on the rise. OTT leading the pack. -
[Signing] Maple Leafs re-sign Auston Matthews
IBatch replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in Trades, Rumours, Signings
This year ? I thought it was a couple years ago he got some votes ... maybe because EP and Miller went on a tear when Tochett came in a got a bunch of shorties, some of Millers passes were pretty darn sweet! Agree it's absurd but maybe it's about the cap hit? Also Tavares has filled the net as a second line C in TO. Even on the "wrong side" of 30, he's been way more than adequate. Too bad his young teammates, weren't willing to sign a second contract like he did, if so they'd have a monster monster team. Tavares earned every single cent of his legacy deal, unlike his teammates who just felt they deserved it for whatever reason. Edit: Checked - Millers actually got Selke votes 3 of the past four years ...Hart votes twice which i fully back. We are lucky to have Miller. Second line centres, durable (knock on wood) and has fire. Hits too. I like JT Miller, more than Mathews at his cap hit. But would of course take Mathews anyday if cap wasn't an issue. But be sad too, we've waited too long to have a guy like Miller. Someone that hates to lose that much. That's added value. He's never going to score 99 again. But do believe him and Tochett will get along great, and would be absolutely fine if Tochett went with him as our next Captain. TO was also right going with Tavares. -
That would actually be a great chant after he scores a goal, or does something cool on the ice. Fans have short memories sometimes, but Brock's personal life im sure touches a lot of us. All it takes is one fan to start making noise ... probably only take 3-4 chanting that to make it work. I'm sure he'd appreciate such an acknowledgment. "Bruce there it is!!" was pretty special. Glad we have an emoji for him still.
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No worries. I liked this Carbanoue guy, who was the captain and leading scorer for a local inline skate league. Wasn't around long, but his story was great and he fought (literally) hard to make the team and seemed to have all the right tools to be a dark horse late bloomer bottom six checking type, with some decent hands. Never happened though. So get an esoteric like or dislike for a flash in the pan. Harold Druken is another guy I thought might stick (young guy) but never did. Scheaffer too. Scatchard ... seemed destined for a career bottom six guy too for awhile, his rookie fight with Thornton was epic. Those two really seemed to hate each other, As for Adrian Plavsic, at the time my mates and I were still missing Butcher and others like Snepsts, Lidster and often screamed at the TV when he made mistakes lol. Became a lightning rod and would groan when they put him out. Hedican and Aucion ... we were cautious and not very trusting of the next guy or new guy. Murray Baron. Liked his game. Not many D's just starting out are mistake free. McAbe used to can opener guys with his stick while slew footing them all the time, loved it when the refs weren't watching, but early on his timing wasn't great, often put us on the PK. Jovo was too small. We had all sorts of biases based on the crop of guys before them.