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IBatch

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Everything posted by IBatch

  1. You're setting yourself up for disappointment. Ten team NTC. And his bonus isn't due to mid September.
  2. QHs is good with the press. After watching the All-star pressor with EP, he's going to think about it ... but don't think it's the right move either. Personally, if we re-sign Schenn which for sure is a possibility, would like to see him get the C as an interim sort of thing, or just go with 3 or 4 A's. Don't see the rush. Luongo was by far the best player when he was given the C. It was a bit of a gimmick and the wrong choice as well. Hank was the right choice in the end. Naslund was never the right choice IMO. Should have been Jovo. I'm a little sick and tired with the C going to the best player, or in Horvats case just what young player we had that was decent - no Linden and no Smyl that's for sure ... What id really like to see is the players themselves vote in the next C. Old school - put a name in a hat.
  3. Think you got that one wrong. But get where you're going with this - he was a beast against St. louis - a kitten against Vegas. The only guy that could handle them was Myers (and he was injured) and Motte. The late great TT was also a kitten. Edler was borderline useless with his skating, Pearson was a kitten too, and both EP and QHs were invisible too. Ok aside from one shift by QHs. Was embarrassing as a Canucks fan who grew up in an era where the Canucks were never pushed around.
  4. To me it was just a case of "who the heck is up next?"... maybe Edler but get they just didn't have a lot of options. We've had tons of players in the past with more heart IMO. Hope they do a better job then when they picked Naslund, Luongo and Bo next time. Said it early on other threads, if you're going with a young player, QHs is probably the best option.
  5. 3 out of 100 multi-verses...Canucks end up with Bedard. Sure hope we are in one of those lucky ones. It's would be good for the game, and make a lot of things right about slipping in the lottery and whiffing on BPA 2 or 3 times the last 8 years or so. Hockey gods be nice!
  6. Anderson loves corvettes lol. And for sure a trooper. Legit number one for the majority of his career. Above the mediocre midline.
  7. For sure there was a recency bias for some players, and snubs for some (Bergeron and Malkin). They probably missed some old timers too (original six players). Keith, to me was about as good as Campbell. Just played on better teams longer (Campbell was their best D first cup - and a Canuck Killer)....for sure it matters where you land. That said no take backs, Toews and Kane probably end up first ballot guys when they are done. Personally i'd make Toews sweat it out for awhile and hope they do....and would have Tonelli in before him. So make him sweat it out for 30 or so years lol.
  8. Thanks Biestra ... you are correct. I think this might be McKinnon's first 100 plus point year too, got Dave'd once already. Nice to see that many guys break 100...it feels like the last time this happened was 1993-1994. Edit: Feels like the dead puck era is finally over. What a grind.
  9. Toews should have never been included in the 100 greatest players - that is an absolute. Probably 7-10 players that didn't make it that were worthy of consideration. If Tonelli isn't in the HHOF, neither should Toews and there is a lot more guys in the HHOF then 100 guys. Also when Kane and Toews signed their mega deals, Toews started to whine about guys management traded or didnt re-sign. Like grade two arithmetic was a class he skipped or something. As soon as they signed those deals, the moment the ink dried, they lost their quality depth. Whined about losing their core guys too lol... well look in the mirror. For me, even without the Kyle Beech stuff, Toew's had his own shovel when it came to the media stuff, and dug deep. You never saw the Sedins doing that, and they didn't make 10.5 either.
  10. So McDavid ties Yzerman, one less goal, good for the 15th highest scoring season ever. EK. 101 points. Not quite enough to edge Potvin and 72-73 Orr (63 games more goals), also good for 15th for a defenseman. EP...102 points. Now up there with the best seasons ever by a Canuck. QHs 76...good for 89th all-time and also 27th just for assists... EK adds to number of times top 11 in scoring. With Orr, Potvin and Coffey.
  11. Thanks OP for doing the work. I doubt we see Myers traded, but do think one of our wingers will be traded for an underwhelming return. And that's about it.
  12. Really think Bob "Beast" McCrimmon should be in. His plus minus is sick - and with advanced stats now available, he kills Lowe on virtually every category. Except cups of course lol. Glad defensive defenseman at least now are garnering more attention. Langway of course ... Chara is a gimmie. Beezer also destroys Cujo in every new fancy stat as well, and ahead of several HHOFers. Won the Vezina and close a few times ... his goals saved above average - was sick. Got to love those little guys too (Vernon, Broduer, Irbe)... a lot easier to drop down every shot and use body position then actually make a save and direct a rebound right to your defensemans stick. That's part of the game Furh, Smith, Dryden, Parent and many others had in spades. McLean was good at that too. Keeping the puck in play by starting with possession from a shot, rather than swallowing it up for a whistle. Turgeon is another guy who not being in the HHOF is looking sillier with each passing year. Also killed it with fancy stats ... Don't see much difference in Sundin and Turgeon. Both weren't considered top tier stars, one though spent a lot of time in the center of the hockey universe. 22 less points in 50 plus less games ... And Turgeon played on some pretty mediocre teams he made a lot better. Dale Hunter likely affected his numbers too. Brutal cheap shot. Crazy that a guy who scored that many points, isn't in the HHOF.
  13. Tonelli is a great example of a WHA player who ended up being a crucial piece in a dynasty later - and put up more points (rightly so, given his age). Named the "best player in the planet" by the Russian coach after a tournament in the early 80's...Very under the radar guy that also deserves consideration. A critical core piece. Goring too. One of the best two way players ever really (Tonelli). It's worth noting It was Gillies and Trottier that played with Bossy. Tonelli did his best Ryan Kesler impression for years. Regular selke guy but also two time second all-star, pretty tough to do that back then. Hart votes twice as well. Edit: Reggie Leach is another guy who didn't quite play long enough and didn't get enough assists. But he sure could score. 61 and over 50, good for one Richard, and come playoff time really hit the twine. Conn Smythe too.
  14. Yes. Biggest difference is next year is the only cap window we have with EP - they got six cracks at it and time to build ... At least we got close to that with QHs and Demko though. Next years Myers cap is going to EP and likely Hronek the following year which is ok I suppose. OEL needs to bounce back, and bounce back big or we are in trouble. Still need a top four D...for our sake, OEL has that in him.
  15. Don't forget Girard, Toews, Manson, Kadri and Manson...plus Newhook and Byram. Sakic did a masterful job...now that cap constraints are also affect them, support players likely get moved...that said it's at another level then what we currently have.
  16. Few punches actually thrown. Goalie hammer fists maybe lol. Nothing to see here, move on.
  17. So Boston did it. Remarkable. McDavid need a 2 goal one assist or four point game to pass Yzerman. Zero points next game, he sits tied but below Espo based on goals. 152 points! EK of course also did it, and has a shot at passing Leetch, Potvin and Al Mac to be the next guy up after Orr and Coffey. Wow.
  18. Sitting at 152, one game to play. Yzerman ahead of him with 155, then just Mario and Wayne ahead of that..Espo currently tied but ahead of McDavid in goals by a bunch at 152. Looks like he needs a four point game or two goals and an assist to pass Yzerman. Wouldn't bet against him. Gretzky had a flare for the dramatic when it came to beating records lol...a five goal game to get to 50 in 39 or something like that, and scored 4 the game before that lol. So does McDavid.
  19. Huddy for sure deserves some looks now. If Lowe gets in he should for sure.
  20. If we didn't draft EP and QHs i'd be a little peeved about how many spots and how often we slipped. It is a little Canuck luck that they changed the rules after we ascended from the bottom dwelling years. Only the top two picks up for grabs now. Changed the odds and made a rule about how many first overalls any team can get over a period of time (lotto wins). Bad teams need those picks. Much more than middle of the row teams.
  21. This is the best idea i've seen in a long time.
  22. Not sure why they'd do that - maybe some local beat writers vote for they favourite player because they had a couple games on the off wing. Didn't have the same technology as they do today. Where anyone can just look at stats. Maybe a hockey card? Lol. Some guys did play both sides listed as RW/LW. So maybe that has something to do with it. Or just a new writer and doesn't really have the same knowledge, hard to say. Definitely don't think they've got it right every time, Lidstrom's final Norris was a gimmie, not being a homer, going from the facts, Perry shouldn't have won the Hart because he exploded for one month. Wasn't even top ten in scoring before he had a goal per game pace. Daniel also was doing it more on his own that year. Not all Norris trophies are made the same either - same with Hart trophies. Lidstrom's young fan base is just that, 40 or younger. Didn't get to see Potvin, Robinson, Orr, Coffey, Al Mac and just a bit of Borque maybe. Neidermayer and Pronger were great so them too...especially Pronger's peak, but Rafalski and Phanuef weren't exactly stiff competition lol. Or 45 year old Chelios. Most overrated player in the history of the game. He wasn't getting better after 30, he just didn't have the same quality of competition. If he was the exact same age as Borque, he'd be the bridesmaid at best and likely not even that many years. Couldn't win one in his 20's against the old guard. Who was actually better? And it's not like he didn't have amazing teams to work with, Detroit was awesome all the way back to 1993. Wasn't around for Harvey so can't comment. Wasn't around for Orr either, too young. Aside from what my elders had to say about them. Personally feel it's not hard to compare eras at all. Have said this many times. If the best players aside from just a select few (Iginla, St. Louis, Datsyuk, Thornton, Sedins) can barely keep up with 37 year old Sakic (100 point plus season), Zubov (71 points after years of 50ish in the dead puck era) and Alfie 33/34 plus with Heatley and Spezza, Selanne, Sundin etc ... well let's just say it's important that the folks who were around for other decades set the record straight. Same with how fast guys were. Removing the redline removed a pass. That's what sped the game up. There were tons of guys who could skate almost or as fast as McDavid does ... including 17 season vet Gartner. 12.9 seconds! Best qualifying time. Back then you had to qualify. Most did with mid 13's. Including Hedican. But the players are "so much faster today". Hogwash. There sure aren't stronger either ... TB volley ball all-star lol... yikes. Tochett and Brind-amour look better now then 3/4 of them. Little pot bellied. Flabbio's compared to Hull senior and Howe too. Love that save percentage now hovers around .903-.904 again for the year. Aside from the 80's and the 2000's, that's across the boards normal ... Are the goalies that much worse? No of course not. We have a Hasek level guy this year. Maybe, just maybe, the talent level is finally catching up. The 2000's until Crosby, Kane, Ovi etc showed up, was pretty freaking terrible talent wise. The dead puck era was also a result of expansion. Every coach in the league was copying NJ with a crap roster, and the reffing crackdowns didn't stick, and they had tried to do that since the early 90's when Mario and Hull were very vocal about the clutching and grabbing. Have mags from 1993/94 with them complaining about it. Prior to NJ. For sure we were eventually going to get another Mario/Gretzky Orr... or at least an Espo (Mathews?). It's for sure harder too, they need a buddy unless they are Crosby level or better. I'm stoked McDavid is doing it this year. He's in his prime. And stoked that younger fans (40 and younger) get to see that it wasn't just bad goaltending in the 70-80's. Parent, Esposito, Dryden, Furh, Roy were all amazing goalies too. Roy didn't get better as he aged lol...sure he peaked too, in 1993. Why do folks think his save percentage went up in the dead puck era? Was he better? No of course not. Same as Demko's and Markstrom's recently. Context needs to be added. Better team and of course playing against better players and or worse players matters too. As do injuries. For the first time in decades, i've got some hope the leagues finally turned a corner on their product. The golden era of hockey, 80's-95 lockout, was incredibly rough and incredibly talented. Take away Mario and Gretzky and Roy ... then still awesome but not the same. Sure hope Beddard comes in next year, scores over 100 points and proceeds like Wayne did. Just so others get to see that part of that era at least.
  23. It was during the playoffs he hurt his shoulder...guy was a scoring machine, should have ended up a first ballot HHOFer...also 3 years in a row Hart votes ... at least 54 goals. 1987 was probably the toughest team EDM met and that's without Kerr. Well second to the NYI anyways, but they'd just played 19 consecutive playoff series and beat some great teams themselves. Not many people talk about this guy, but he had 370 goals in 655 games - and IF he didn't hurt his shoulder, probably would have had 400 in 655 games easy. Or 650 in 1000 games. That's how good he was, and he missed out on five years of pre dead puck era ...maybe 700 who knows. It's why i don't jump the gun on guys like Mathews. Stamkos also looked like he was on his way to 700 goals ... look at how that worked out for him. Edit: Oh and he somehow got Byng votes ... but if anyone ever watched any of his fights ... yikes. Could throw them fast and usually left his opponent a bloody mess. Edit: Theo deserves HHOF consideration. Canuck killer but you really have to respect him and what he went through. Sure enjoyed a THN mag this year, Theo and Coffey talking about how the game used to be both in the regular season against certain teams (CAL-VAN, best rivalry i've ever seen with the Canucks, we took EDM spot in the early 90's) and especially the playoffs. "All out war" is Theo ... Coffey dropped about 30 F-bombs lol. Coffey today would he considered a mean guy. 4-5 fights a year, lots of 100-200ish PIM seasons. Theo/Roenick/Mogilny/Turgeon are all guys that need to be considered since the bar lowered somewhat with Federko and Dave Anderchyuk. Rechhi even. Nichols too. And as far as goalies go, they need to make sure that in the future, guys like Osgood and Cujo, Barrasso and Beezer, and Vernon aren't slighted because of 3 x 3 OT and especially the shoot-out. Roy. You can't have 500 wins beat because a guy like Lundqvist had 60 plus shoot out wins. Luongo's career wins would he right by Sawchuk. For me anyways, would like to see any game that isn't settled in OT at least put in the same column as tie games. Lundqvist won 61 shoot-outs lol. Lost 50. That's 111 tie games. 61. Not even 400 wins, which of course used to be viewed as incredible. Osgood did have 400 wins exactly. Also would have won the Conn Smythe had Detroit won back to back cups, and a front runner the year before. Food for thought. Luongo who leads the league in games lost, also won 52 and MAF leads the pack with 64. To me anyways, it's invalidating to guys like Roy, and Hasek and Beflour and Cujo, and Dryden and Parent, and Plante and Sawchuk. How many would they have won? Make them ties. Also Vernon joins Roy as a goalie who started with two different clubs and won a cup. And was instrumental in both wins. Especially against the Canucks game 7 OT. Made 3 sure goal saves. Vindication in 94. Also lost in the final one other time. Osgood ... he also shone bright when it mattered.
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