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IBatch

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Everything posted by IBatch

  1. I agree with this to a certain degree, it’s a tad conspiracy theory. In 94 the idea of the Rangers winning was huge, the entire US got behind it and by the time the final came it was frantic media coverage. In reality there was two blatant bad or missed calls. One game when we were all over them early and they couldn’t contain Bure at all. He clipped someone and even though there was little visible blood he was ejected. Stupid rule but at the time it was there (later it was changed back, if u high sticked someone and it drew blood it was an automatic ejection and five minute major). The player was not hurt and it was a terrible result, we ended up losing that game. The other call was Messier brutally cross checking Momesso in the back into the boards ... in the dangerous zone. He should have been ejected instead he got away scot free. Also feel that the media attention must get to the refs to a certain degree and subconsciously they might go easier on the favourites. There were others but both these affected the outcome of the game.. As far as LA they also got burned in the final big time. They were winning game two and won game one, late in the third MTL asked the ref to check sticks for illegal curves. If you read Gretzkys book he goes over that series in detail and that moment, he had asked everyone to put away their questionable sticks a few minutes before, and McSorely grabbed the wrong one by accident...they called a penalty, scored on the PP, went to OT and Roy did what he did the entire playoffs and shut the door. IMO that was the worse team to ever win the cup since expansion. 10 overtime wins out of a total 16 wins required....they were decent-good but Roy was prime Roy, the best goaltending display since Thomas beat us and TB in seven, and arguably the best goaltending display since Sawchuk did his thing and got less then 1.00 GAA one playoffs a long time ago. I think they also lost another OT game, and won game one. Without McSorelys illegal stick call they would have been up 2-0, and even Roy might not have saved them. LA was by far the better team, yet the lost 4-1. Just wanted to point that out as I watched every game LA played as still was a Gretzky fan .... actually wanted them to beat TO and MTL which didn’t make me popular at the time (which is what happens when you grew up watching the Great One do his thing from the get go). As far as the refs go they put the whistles away and let guys plays in the playoffs which creates a lot of inconsistencies. EVERYBODY gets burned at some point as a result. They also like to even things ups quickly and they will rarely let the PPs go more then 2–1, which can lead to a lot of things let go when you play a team like ANAs cup or Boston’s cup, both throwbacks ANA much more so, they actually were so bad the penalies were more like 3-1. The problems will continue until they decide to call it by the book. Hope that never ever happens as the second season is so much better then the regular one because they let things go. Every good team we’ve ever had got away with stuff, we just don’t keep it stored in our data banks the same was as when we see stuff like Messier on Momesso or Rat face on Sedin. Bures flying elbow to Churla is an exception - now he’s be suspended for the series if not the playoffs for pulling that stunt. Last playoffs were embarrassing for the league. Entire series were won because of bad calls in a way...Bettman was furious and could barely talk to the press (said his head almost exploded with the missed hand pass that resulted in a goal) because he’d started off he playoffs saying we had the best in the world reffing the games. I think if we were all being honest, we’ve got away with at least as much as we’ve taken over the years or at least it’s close - but like I said we just don’t remember them. I’ve stood up and yelled at the TV too many times to count when I see a player make a dumb penalty worthy play, and I’ve also sat down and smiled or clapped countless times because the refs missed it or chooses not to call them. (Cooke, Odjick, Brashear, May, Jovo, Sedins, Naslund and many many others have made a lot of penalty worthy calls that didn’t get called, especially stick work -McCabe too, used his can opener all the time). I’m sure that other fans have just as many bad memories about us as we have about them...at least for the most part. I do get where your coming from though, for a long time I felt the same but since have changed my mind, it is what it is and don’t see it getting any better in the future it’s just part of the game.
  2. Not from where I’m sitting. Best regular season team for a couple years, best PP best PK, better forwards, deepest defense in the league by a long shot, and one of the best goalies at the time. It was Thomas who was the biggest difference maker in the series, the hottest goalie in the league for two years and we ran into it at the wrong time unfortunately. That’s why he won the Smythe and a couple Vezinas. Without him and just a very good goalie we would have won in 5-6. And he TB beat them instead we would have possibly swept them. Not having Maholtra and Kesler not having his hamstring hanging on by a thread would have been enough to beat Boston. We had 2–1 PP advantage on them, the refs can’t call everything so I don’t fault them on that, Thomas was their most important player by a long shot. They would have been pretty good still, but no way they would have even made it past TB without him, they also peppered him but could score, and also had the better overall team.
  3. Unless you consider the clinic Thomas had...most shots against and most saves made ever in a final. Seems like robbery to me, especially considering we somehow won three of four while only scoring eight goals.
  4. If anything the cap will increase the odds of a Canadian team winning a cup. As it is right now TB, FLORIDA and Vegas have a distinct advantage over the rest of the league with the exception of Dallas who is close to them - it works out to around and extra 8 million in cap space - enough for a marque forward or star defenseman. Or two solid vets. It wasn’t Yzerman and CO’s negotiation savvy that signed Kucherov, Stamkos, Hedman, Miller and soon Point to team friendly deals, it was the fact they pay no state tax for home games. That amounts to a huge savings on their expensive core players - Stamkos was supposedly going to get 10 - and he basically did - Kucherov salary would have to be around 11 to match his 9.5 etc. Maybe they took a very small discount to help the team but that’s it. Back to the cap, pre-cap rich US teams like NYR and Detroit could buy themselves the best chances to win a cup. Anyone who remembers what NYR was doing late nineties early 2000’s understand. They had nine star forwards and on paper the best teams by far - virtually all-star vets in their mid-late primes, ridiculous really it was an all-star team...couldn’t win which was hilariously good karma. Fluery, Lindros, Bure for a bit Jagr and on an on. And they paid them huge bucks for the time. The cap levels the playing (almost), the downside is you can’t keep good teams long and rivalries against great teams almost don’t exist anymore. But it absolutely helps most Canadian teams including us. Doubtful WNP, OTT and maybe even EDM would survive forever without a cap. As far as the OP, yes Canadian teams haven’t won for a long time...which sucks. Eventually the odds will work there way into the equation though....and I see Vancouver, TO and possibly CAL and WNP getting some shots at a cup in the next five years.
  5. You bet. Sure TG will move the troops around until they are both clicking. Years ago when our number one overall PP started to falter it was the second unit that picked up the slack and kept as at or near the top the following season (Coho helped this work)...I could see a similar thing happening where both units together work to make a successful PP. The upside is definitely there now.
  6. Sorry I meant google NHL cap calculator for different teams .... one of the major agencies gives out a free one ... It’s interesting to note that below 4 or 5 there really isn’t much of a difference but past that it becomes significant...
  7. Google NHL cap comparisons...there are sites that will do the math on anything from base salary to McDavid and you can see the difference between different teams. You will be pleasantly surprised at how well Canadian teams do compared to most US states. Edit it’s a sliding scale, federal and state taxes
  8. This is misinformation. Currently three teams that pay no state tax and have a cap advantage over the rest of the league. US teams in NY and CALI pay more tax then the rest of the league...and our very own Canucks is in the top third of least taxed teams in the NHL. The Alberta teams ahead of us. It’s called jock tax.
  9. Absolutely. I do think Myers and Benn will take a loaf off Edler and Tanev on the special teams and this will help them play more games. Sutter not so sure of, those are the three guys that skew our man games lost stat the most. And even if they are at least we aren’t icing an AHL team anymore. For the first time in a while I’m expecting a different result.
  10. Go for it. Hope you have some inspiration. This time of year is pretty thin...waiting for something of substance to occur.
  11. I agree with this. I also think that the added depth will help when injuries do strike and that both Edler and Tanev’s workload will be reduced with the additions on defense. Myers and Hughes will end up running the first PP unit at some point, and Myers and Benn are both decent to very good PKers which will take the load off them too. This could help tremendously, as will Sutter and Beagle taking the load off Horvat ... no way he can maintain last years load forever. Think we might actually break the trend this year, but if we don’t at least we have way better depth. Playoffs for sure on paper. I think the Vegas bubble will pop a bit even with a Stone and Patches and SJ will be scraping to make the show if EK is less then 100%.
  12. Absolutely. Every guy getting 15 goals and 30ish points would be six million dollar men times six years if that was the case right?
  13. Might as well make Hayes new deal the bench mark for middle six forwards too then at what was it again - 7 million ha ha. Agreed stupid article - there are way more goaltenders with comparable or better stats making less then 3 million that JB camp can use too.
  14. I agree that Horvat would have to be considered the weak link before he’s removed and it’s doubtful that will happen. Last year we dropped 13 spots to 22 after the year before Boeser feasted on the PP...I think that we have the pieces to get back into the top ten again and it will make a huge difference in the bottom line by the end of the year. Love the last sentence, watching Edler fumble pucks, not get his shot through and barely score a goal or two has been incredibly painful to watch for a very long time, his shooting percentage is dreadful. Myers is very respectable and I honestly believe that he was underutilized in WNP on the PP...he’s got a bomb. EP-Horvat-Boeser and Hughes-Myers I think will be the first PP unit before November is out. Our second unit won’t be bad either with Miller and Edler on it, and like I said reducing Edlers minutes won’t hurt either...
  15. 1994 Missed game 7 against Calgary due to a camping trip planned a while before. However we listened to it on the radio and it was nail biting action right until the end...we thought nobody was around but when Bure scored in OT we heard others cheering off in the distance, and they heard us, we cheered back and forth for awhile, never forget that. Got see the game later recorded on the VHS...no regrets
  16. Most had already been covered - but I want to add the real problem was Dubas signing AM in a manner the declarated him as the second best player in the league which was ludicrous. Their fans should be mad at him for overpaying both him and Nylander as should every fan in the league who’s waiting for their star RFAs to also be signed. It’s like crawling through mud WNPs GM recently said (signing Laine and Conner) as they are all waiting to see what bar will be set next - even though AHOs and Eichel and Nylanders kind of already does. Marner as their third best player? Well that’s debatable. On Tavares’s - he’s not the problem, he deserved that payday and he took less then SJ offered, after all he was a former highly coveted and hyped first overall that signed for 5 million as an RFA, a lot less then the best at the time, and EARNED his pay-day as a UFA. Now they want third contract money right away....i for one hope the next CBA puts a cap on this, much like the rookie cap, maybe no more then .70 of the leagues top paid player or something of the sort, that would set a new bar eventually. Overall this read wad was funny. My faves are that they will ice the best team in the NHL. wOW. And that they could have a dynasty. Funny stuff.
  17. That’s what I read between the lines. He was more or less calling out LE that he’s going with the best options at training camp and calling him out that he doesn’t make lines based on salary. He did it in a nice and professional way too. In other words have a good camp and earn a spot or as Alf so politely suggested earlier, prepare to smell bus farts.
  18. Just saw this thread .... personally if we don’t see Myers on the point I will be disappointed. He scores 50% more then Elder does with his shot because it’s harder and more accurate, would be a pity not to see us use that weapon, we haven’t had one since Salo was here. I see Edler getting bumped by Hughes early on, he’s too creative not to use and has the ability to both defend and get back as well as play like a forward, pair those two with EP, Boeser and Horvat infront and we will see a much improved unit over an entire year. Also this will reduce Edlers ice time and improve the chances of him staying healthy. Myers is also a good PK option so his ice time will have to be managed too (to keep it reasonable). Doubt we see OJ on the team much this year except as an injury call-up, and doubt he will ever run a first unit PP with Hughes ahead of him. Edit: I’d say Horvat is the odd man out now with Miller in town, those two are interchangeable and perhaps Miller is the better option on the first PP. Regardless BOTH units just got a whole lot better. There are three defenseman that can do some damage now, but of those Myers has the best point shot and can pass the puck well too - and Edler is just too predictable and flubs receiving passes too often, looking forward to the new looks on both the units.
  19. How’s this for a hypothetical. What if we are 12th in our conference at the deadline, mostly because the usual suspects go down and maybe one or two of our young core and playoffs are all but out of the picture as a result. But all the adds did great and kept us from a further slide. What would Benn, Ferland, Pearson and Miller get us at the TDL? That could be quite the bounty all the type of guys you’d like to add for the playoffs - As much as 4-5 firsts and a couple seconds and thirds.
  20. It’s not far fetched that we are 6th or so in our conference....but still don’t think anyone would offer up a deal like Miller unless they are getting a guy like Miller. The TDL would be a better time to squeeze blood out of a stone, and even then I don’t see anyone going for those guys as other better options will be available, and even more importantly JB wont sell but keep them for our own playoff push....unless we are 10-13 and trades Miller for more then we paid for him. Wouldn’t that be interesting...he’s better then Tatar and look Vegas paid for two years of his remaining contract (and he wasn’t even played).
  21. Yep...or Miller ha ha. Doubt any of these guys except maybe Markstrom would get us a first and that’s if he’s continued at a .920 or better rate. Sutter no way. Even if he’s dynamite and healthy. Tanev ...well I guess if they are super desperate but can’t see why the couldn’t find a better deal somewhere else, TDL is the only time overpayments are common...and even then it’s a stretch - the market would have to be pretty thin. All these guys except Markstrom come with many years of injury problems and or declining pay and some cap hits that aren’t so easy to add. The best I could see is a second and maybe a throw in B prospect.
  22. Don’t listen to the negativity. Instead enjoy the memes, some are actually pretty good. The best of us make threads that get trashed, particularly on the proposal part of the forum...a couple years ago their was a Horvat fan who got lambasted for making a couple threads a day and quite a few of them made for interesting discussions but eventually gave it up. The Guardian was merciless in his criticism of every move or non move JB made and was eventually banned for trolling (which he did do, BUT he was actually right sometimes and his threads were important). So don’t give up. Make a few more this is a boring time of year.
  23. Curious what game..saw him twice in Laval and he had a strong game and a not so strong game (benched for a gaffe that caused a goal because he didn’t take the body in an easy play if he did take the body, missed the check and the guy got by him and scored in a 1-1 game, turned out to be the game winner). His 18 game sample size was too small and see him back for most of the year except for when Edler or someone else goes down. The next year maybe Benn goes to the right side and OJ is up full-time.
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