Neech

Yeah, I definitely agree with that. This summer might not be the right time to go after a big UFA, first of all we should focus on keeping the important guys we have. With our current top 3 and the young guys we have coming up in our system, I think the D is looking good at this point and for the next few years. Our young forwards are still improving, and it's too early to really evaluate most of them yet. It doesn't look like there will be many perfect UFAs to go after this summer anyway, so I have no problem if we sit tight and maybe just add a player or two to fill small holes. When we know where we are, we can go after a big name to push us into the elite of the league. Plus, if we have a good young team at that time, guys will be more inclined to sign with us.

Yeah, he was maybe our most dangerous forward on the ice. He's been better for the last few weeks, and he's had some great games where the defense can't contain him. Too bad Higgins is drifting in dreamland, and Ryder or whoever else is there can't contribute very much. I agree, if he keeps playing like this the points will come, and if his linemates had been playing better he could already be on a nice point streak.

Just imagine the ass-slapping!! Alright, I'm done. I read in the Globe and Mail today that Hossa had already turned down a 4 year 28 million dollar contract, so that puts our hopes of signing him for 3-4 years to rest. He's going to do no different than other guys in his situation, go for the maximum amount of money he can command, probably 7 years 50 million or something like that.

He's OK, better than his brother, but not close to our best defensive forward, and nothing comparable to an actual D-man. Koivu had a good game, although he can't take much credit for the assists. Higgins did not play a good game, he was invisible again except for his goal, which was pretty fluky. Hopefully these two goals give him a bit more confidence.

The thing about the homo-eroticism is that it isn't intensely repressed, the hazing and the constant ass-slappage are out for all to see (well not so much the hazing, but we're talking about this homo-erotic behaviour because practically all athletes do it). It's strange how a group of competitive males, when kept together and made to bond as a team, will behave in this way. Perhaps the omnipresence of sex and sexuality in our psyche makes it natural for men to extend it to an athletic and competitive environment like pro-sports. Psychologists probably have many theories to explain this. This thread could really get derailed...

Yeah, I think he could take over for Streit relatively soon. But to pair him with Brisebois... there's not much defensive competence on the ice. Gotta get Hamrlik back.

So he was stealing those from the Panther players?

He said 'the first two lines', meaning Plex's line and Koivu's line. He didn't call the Koivu line the first line. Yeah, when the puck came to the point I was literally waving at the TV for them to give it back to Kovy. And I was totally expecting that shot to go in, it was weird. One thing that surprised me was how Carbo would use Brisebois and S. Kostitsyn on the blueline for our second powerplay unit. That's the equivalent of having zero defensemen on the ice.

Well gay athletes don't tend to go around openly proclaiming their homosexuality, there's a certain stigma to it in case you hadn't heard.

I would put it more like: 1.Price 2.Vokoun 3.Kovalev But they got the names right.

Price was huge, he kept us in it just like Vokoun kept them in it. Both of the regulation goals were pretty fluky, it was really a goaltender's duel. I'm so glad we won this game, phew. We really dug it out of the muck. It was great seeing the crowd in Florida jumping to their feet after the OT goal. Guys like Markov and Komisarek are still works in progress. Most of the time they're very solid, sometimes spectacular, but then they have brain-farts, like Markov's stretch pass attempt that was an icing late in the third. He's done that a few times this year at the end of the game to put us in a compromising position. I liked what I saw from O'Byrne tonight. Koivu had a good game except for that gawddamn hooking penalty. He was creative, even though the 2 assists weren't really much of his doing (one was a Vokoun cafouillage and the other was a vintage Kovalev snipe). Higgins, invisible just like last night except for one play (which was fluky). Plex wasn't very good, his passes weren't precise. But this game really belonged to Carey Price, I'm glad to see him step up like this. And those clears 'à la Martin Brodeur' are fun to watch.

Are you being serious here? Do you actually think these guys are playing worse to get Gainey to make a trade? Why did they win all those games, there would have been more of a chance for a trade if we had been losing.

What a shot by Kovalev, damn! We fought it out, it wasn't easy, but we got it. :hlogo:

Yeah, some people don't seem to understand that Ryder by himself is currently not worth anything of value.

This is a frustrating game, we're not playing that well but we're doing OK. We just need to bury some chances. Higgins is continuing his disappearing act, and Streit is making a many mistakes. You never notice Brisebois until he screws up. Eugh. You know who's having a very good game? O'Byrne, he looks at home out there. I like the way Koivu is playing but I wasn't too impressed with that breakaway shot. Ah well. Kovalev is trying to do too much sometimes. We're going to come back in the third. :hlogo:

No, you're about three weeks late on this one. If you said that at that time, you would be right. But he has picked up his game since then and has been decent. Not great, but better than his linemates who are drifting around. And certainly better than Smolinski.

It would be sweet to have Boyle on this team, but that would be a lot of money locked up in our D. Although Streit is good on our powerplay, and I don't know exactly what we'd do to replace him if he left this year, Bernier would be a great addition. Him and Gui would be the clobbering Québecois!

Why does Smolinski have a permanent place in the lineup? He has been pretty worthless lately.

So Spidey felt more at home with the childish idiots?

I predict a 4-2 win for us. I think we're going to come out with a better effort than last night and Price will be solid. It won't be an easy game but we'll have earned a win. :hlogo: Goals for: Koivu, Kovalev, A. Kostitsyn, Lapierre (I tend to get about 1 out of 4 correct )

Yeah, it was funny on RDS when 'le Baron' said something to the effect of "maybe taking her phone was the only way he could get her number."

This kind of comment makes me think you haven't been watching the games. Gorges has been decent in the last month or two, not stellar but solid. He's really cut down on the blunders that he's kind of known for, and he's had a few very strong games. He plays physical, competes, and manages to win battles. Brisebois, on the other hand, is useless. He had maybe ten decent games at the beginning of the year, but now he just turns the puck over, forgets to cover his man, or loses a battle for the puck. He is a significantly weaker player than Gorges. That's pretty bad, because Gorges is a #6 defenseman, and that would put Brisebois at around 9 or 10. He sucks.

I don't think Markov had a particularly bad game, on the final goal he made a nice play to get the puck and it sure looked like Lecavalier hooked him to get the turnover. Overall this was a crappy game, we didn't deserve to win. Our faceoffs were terrible again, and our defensive zone coverage was weak. Our D-men had a poor showing, Komisarek has been less strong lately, Gorges made several cafouillages, and Brisebois was his usual useless self. Our offense wasn't good, but it wasn't terrible, our inability to win a faceoff definitely hurt there. I don't know how many times Higgins will have to have the puck poke-checked away from him on a breakaway for him to learn to not try to stick-handle past the defense, he just isn't that kind of player. Take a quick shot looking for a rebound, wait for someone to pass to, or dump it in the corners; he's been making this mistake all year. And Ryder needs to relearn that the net is 6 by 4 feet, no 10 by 8, maybe that will help him actually get a shot on goal. And I'm mystified as to why Smolinski is regularly in the lineup. There were a few positives from this game though. Although Huet looked bad on each of the goals, he had a very strong game besides that and kept us close with big saves. And in the final minute we created some great chances to tie with those passes from big teets. O'Byrne had a decent first game back. Overall it was a poor performance, and we better bounce back tomorrow if we don't want to fall into a real slump.

I found this story highly amusing when I found out, although I wish it could have happened with another team. O'Byrne always seemed to come across kind of like a doofus, and Kosto didn't seem like the sharpest tool in the shed either. This was just a stupid mistake they made while wasted (although in their mugshots they don't appear to be too hammered). I doubt this will have an effect on the team, and I don't see it causing serious legal problems. These are rich guys backed by a wealthy organization, they find ways to get out of serious punishment in a relatively minor case like this.

Yeah, they'll be trying to destroy all copies of it a few years from now. This is the best one! That's what I was thinking, he actually looks like my cousin. Andrei's head is like 50% larger, he probably ate most of the food off Sergei's plate when they were kids.