Jump to content

MK1

Member
  • Posts

    150
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    2

Everything posted by MK1

  1. Toasted for what, exactly? At best this team squeeks into the 7th-8th spot and gets annahillated by PIT/WAS/NJ, sound familiar to last season by chance? Bob needs to convince someone to take Hammer off the books, and get something decent back in return for Halak. Use the rest of this season to ride Price and towards the end of the season give a half-dozen games to some kids in Hamilton for a taste of what it's like in the show so they come to camp roaring to go for next season. Playoffs this year accomplishes nothing other than a few extra million in the owner's pockets and an entire fanbase frothing at the mouth after a second straight embarassment in round 1. Think medium/long term here people.
  2. All the bad apples seem to be the darling francos the media are lining up to blow. Latendresse, Laraque, Lapierre .... Just saying.
  3. BGL was never really a deterrent anyways, he played every 4th game and maybe 1-2 shifts per period even when he was dressed.
  4. Very few teams in the NHL can afford to waste a roster spot to have a horribly-talented goon who's only role is to play 3min per game and fight some other goon in a fight agreed upon before the game even began. Factor in that the CH play in the East, and there is even less rationale to work with. Maybe if he played in the West, constantly against Minny/Anaheim/Calgary his services might be useful, but I still think he would just embarass himself more often than not. Guys like BGL, Boogaard, Peters, they are relics of a game that is passing them by, being replaced with the Carcillos/Otts/Rypiens of the game that can log regular 3rd/4th line shifts, score the odd time, and not be a complete liability on the ice. Do you ever watch when two legit HW fight each other? More often than not the outcome is predictable and no one really gets "hyped up" over the decision. Far more lift is given to the team when one of their middleweights decides to throw down and lay a beating on some big D-man (ie: watch Rypien vs. Gill). BGL has been useless since his signing, except for a possible handful of one-off situations that certainly weren't the norm, and on top of which he pops off to the media every chance he gets about how he somehow deserves to play MORE. Good riddance IMHO.
  5. 16pts in the previous 30+ games ... see I can play with numbers to make them fit my argument as well. How can you possibly ignore the salary, his payroll alone makes up 15% of the entire team's salary cap. He is going to be paid 10M next year, and you guys are satisfied that he is on pace for 60 points. Remember all of those posts over the past couple of years about how funny it is to see the Leafs celebrate mediocrity ... well congratulations that same attitude made its way up the 401 to Habland. On any competitive team this guy would be getting a strip torn off of him for his production vs cost and yet you guys somehow find a way to be happy with what he has/hasn't done this season. Can't argue with mediocrity I guess, so I will roll with the crowd. He is playing great, and it was a fantastic trade. In Bob we trust.
  6. The guy is a total disaster with respect to the payroll, and his contributions to the scoresheet are marginal at best. We can sugarcoat this any way you wish to make it taste better, but this guy has THE worst contract in hockey and he is proving it on the CH just as he did on the Rangers. If douchebag Burke had made this signing we would be mocking him mercilessly and would continue to do so until the cows come home, but if Bob does the exact same thing certain folks on this board think he is exonerated from the same heat.
  7. I just think that the D really wouldn't regress too much more than it currently has and the savings of 5.5M would go a long way towards the future building of the team. Hammer is not in any plans beyond this season or at most next, so he is a band-aid that can be removed at any point once someone on the farm can reliably eat 15-18min/game. Trade him at the deadline to someone that needs D heading into the playoffs and kiss his salary and giveaways goodbye. I can deal with the same number of gaffes at a fraction of the cost, which I believe is the situation we'd be in at the worst.
  8. This is absolutely ridiculous on so many levels.
  9. People seem to have short memories. Hammer was atrocious last season, to the point of being a major liability for pretty much the entire last 25-30 games of the season and the short-lived slaughter that was Rd #1. This guy is playing well this year because there is nothing to compare him to, hence he looks good side by side with other marginal D-men. And at 5.5M/yr he is at least 1.5M-2M overpaid for his age/speed/passing. He and his huge contract need to go after this season is over, or even earlier if a trade can be done at the deadline. The difference between his play and some at 1/5 of his pricetag and 10yrs younger would be more than worth it.
  10. Lame or not that is how the rule is put into practice each and every night across the league. I'm not saying I liked the call (see my 2nd paragraph from previous post) but there isn't much you can do about it. If you rewind the tape I would bet the ref's hand was moving towards his mouth before the puck crossed the line, hence the rationale above. If you want to get irate about something, how about another night with 40+ shots against and barely 20 shots for. It was a miracle this was a tie game for so long.
  11. I can't really fault the ref on the no-goal. The rules state that the intent to blow the whistle is the same as it being blown, so with the actual sound of the whistle taking place exactly when I saw the puck hit the back of the net I guess I have to agree with the call. What pisses me off is that the whistle came from the ref NOT standing right over the net but rather the guy on the far side who obviously cannot see the puck with a 5 player scrum taking place in his direct line of sight. If we want to institute any rule it should be that the ref closest to the net has to be the one to blow the play dead, not the 2nd guy who is not in position because he is looking for other infractions. Also, the Pens didn't get any of their obstruction called whereas every time the golden boy fell down it was 2min. It's like watching a Patriots game and anytime a finger moves or a hair blows and touches golden boy Brady its 15yds against the defence.
  12. Kovy is playing with Spezza tonight AFAIK
  13. +1 Gomez at his peak isn't worth 7.5M/yr let alone what he is capable of now. He won the lottery when he got that contract in the first place, and Sather in return when he was able to unload it to mastermind BG. Apparently lightning can strike twice.
  14. I agree 100% that getting back into shape for the Olympics will have a positive effect on Markov since he's been off skates for a while now. And judging by what Tretiak had to say last night on Prime Time Sports, the Russian team is eagerly awaiting his return to solid health.
  15. I have two theories for why the PP opportunities are down this year: 1) Everyone in the league knows MTL lives and dies by their PP goals ... so they make damn sure to try and limit their chances. Combine that with no. 2 ... 2) This is a team full of small hockey players, and small hockey players get knocked around alot. Everytime I watch a home game the crowd at the Bell Centre booes maniacly every single time a habs falls down, it's like crying wolf to use an analogy in a very loose way. The ref's know there will be players falling/knocked down more and so they miss some of the times when guys are going down as a result of an infraction. Just my two cents worth, feel free to agree/disagree/discuss further.
  16. Great comeback last night, what an exciting hockey game from start to finish! PROS: - Laps took it to another level and showed what he can do out there when he actually wants the puck - Carey was stellar all night, can't really fault him on any of the goals, and he kept them in the game for the first 30min when CBJ were skating circles around us - MAB and SK played well - I get excited every time Camms has the puck on his stick, he is a bona fide sniper and he knows it too CONS: - CBJ must've had 8-9 odd man rushes in the first 30min, I was literally watching the TV in awe at the neutral zone speed they were bringing, so thank God Carey showed up tonite or it could've been ugly - it took 40min for the team to wake up and start playing hockey Overall a solid W at home, and good momentum to take into the Pens' barn.
  17. Without Gomez there probably would not have been the Cammi and Gio signings this past summer. And while I agree he needs to pick up the pace a bit and start to hit the scoresheet more often, the first line on this club is the least of it's problems.
  18. With the way the league is today you really can coast through the season slightly above .500 and still have a realistic shot at the playoffs. You really only need a strong PP and good goaltending. Every NHL team is gonna win 20 and lose 20, it's what you do with the 40 in the middle that separates everyone. So you win a bunch of OT/shootouts you probably should've lost, and lose a bunch in OT that you at least hung around for the point, and suddenly you are knocking on the door. This team is remarkably good at scraping out a point even when they shouldn't, so if the PP ever comes around and Carey continues his recent streak of solid play, this could turn around by season's end.
  19. I think this pretty much forces BG's hand to bring up SK does it not?!?
  20. Cammi has performed well so far this year, but I also have different expectations for him compared to the rest. He was brought in and paid $6M/yr for one reason and one reason alone ... to score goals. 8G in 21GP has him on pace for 30+, which I will be fine with at year's end. But that is the floor for a player earning his salary for what he brings to the table. I hope he keeps it up because he is a new fav on this current team, however he needs 30+ to earn his spot on this team given his salary committment.
  21. I guess I am slightly put off by the organization when they remake the team completely in the offseason, spend over 100 MILLION dollars on FAs', and yet when one guy goes down the wings are clipped and its now survival mode for 4 months. Don't get me wrong I understand how valuable Markov is to this team, however it continues to be a sore spot with me that you can spend that much money on a rebuild and still be a the whim of one guys performance/health. This is becoming less of an excuse and more of a crutch as the season drags on in my opinion.
  22. When this team was really dangerous last year and the year prior was when the PP was firing on all cylinders and was tops in the league. Even during that 2007 season the team still struggled to score 5v5, and last year that was exacerbated by the fact that the PP success was down significantly. Looking at this year's team, once again the PP success is below expectations, the team still has trouble scoring 5v5, hence their record in regulation (thank God for OT pts). We like to look at Carey v Jaro, and all of the rest of that hot air people like to blow, when the reality is when you are averaging barely 2G/game (48G in 21GP so far) you are not going to win very many hockey games in the new NHL regardless of who is in net. Until this team can consistently score 5v5 it is going to be a bumpy ride of .500 hockey, give or take short periods of greatness or weakness. It should also be noted that this trend has continued across both recent coaches and both locker room make-ups.
  23. Seems to me Gomez is producing this year at the same pace he has over his most recent couple of years. On pace for 55-65pts if I am not mistaken, so approx $110k per point. I guess Plex is in for a raise come April.
  24. You can find Lats in the corner somewhere, as far away from the front of the net as humanly possible. And Laps is too busy running his mouth and backing it up with zero offense and zero physicality. This team is making me one sad panda.
  25. Pav made 50/51 saves the other day to beat Ottawa ... when was the last time ANY habs tender stole a game for their team like that?!? Good teams (not including ATL in this btw) win the games they are supposed to and a bunch they probably shouldn't. This team has a hard enough time winning the games it should win, let alone stealing ones they shouldn't. All I can say is thank Christ for OT/shootouts or this team would have 2 regulation wins a month+ into the season. THAT is what scares me.
×
×
  • Create New...