dlbalr

Draft day is tomorrow, a pretty good read from TSN on the good, the bad, and the ugly of the last decade. http://www.tsn.ca/columnists/duane_forde/?id=320144

Yeah, judging from the discussion going over there, you may not have been the only one either...Any info on the Heat lines?

Interesting that you mention Cooke as trying to set a physical tone early. I fear this the most for the Habs as last round wasn't your typical grind it out series. Instead, it looked a lot like regular season hockey which was good for us as a smaller team. Now we'll see how much of a 'beating' they can take as Pittsburgh will hit a lot more.

I must say, I like that last sentence... With Varly/Neuvirth, I think the Caps will go with them next year and see how the 2 youngsters develop together before making a move. As for teams who might be looking for goalies, here's the list I have: Chicago (over the cap for next year already) Calgary (to replace Kipper soon, cap issues) Ottawa (2 goalies signed already though, cap issues) Philly (cap issues) Edmonton (maybe, depends on 'Bulin's health, some cap space) New Jersey (Brodeur's future replacement, have some space and it seems feasible) Tampa Bay (Niittymaki's a UFA, can Smith be a full time #1? Have young goalies already though) San Jose (if they let Nabby go, tons of UFA/RFA though, likely cap issues) Colorado (may be more comfy with Anderson as a backup, budget constraints) St. Louis (Mason's a UFA, have cap and budget space)

Injury notes for the Pens: Kunitz is playing but might not be 100%, Kennedy's DTD, Leopold should be back fairly soon as well.

Projected lines for Montreal: Left Wing Centre Right Wing Defence/Goalies Cammalleri Plekanec A. Kostitsyn Markov O'Byrne Moen Gomez Gionta Hamrlik Subban Pouliot Moore Lapierre Gill Gorges Bergeron Metropolit Pyatt Halak Price Other Notes: Injuries: Mara, Spacek Scratches: Darche, S. Kostitsyn, Laraque, Maxwell Projected lines for Pittsburgh: Left Wing Centre Right Wing Defence/Goalies Kunitz Crosby Guerin Orpik Gonchar Ponikarovsky Malkin Talbot Eaton Letang Cooke Staal Dupuis McKee Goligoski Rupp Adams Conner Fleury Johnson Other Notes: Injuries: Kennedy, Leopold Scratches: Curry, Engelland, Fedotenko, Godard, Jeffrey, Johnson, Letestu, Lovejoy, Tangradi, Thiessen, Wagner, Wallace Game time: 7:00 PM EST TV: CBC, RDS, Versus Radio: CJAD,CKAC Game 7 Highlights:

Game over, 3-2 Heat. Abbotsford leads the series 1-0.

Trotter scores to make it 3-2 with 46 seconds left! White/Glumac the assists.

Attendance for tonight: 1,896... :puke: Halfway through the 3rd, still 3-1.

Right off the hop, Heat score again to make it 3-1. I'm glad Sanford's healthy again, I think Ceddy could use a game off. He's not used to being a full time AHL starter, he'd benefit from a game or two from the bench. Sutter from Rheault the goal details.

Small blurb about Sergei Kostitsyn possibly leaving for the KHL next season (I think that's been a foregone conclusion since, well, the beginning of this season, but that's just me). http://fr.canoe.ca/sports/nouvelles/hockey...429-105604.html Basically, it says that if he doesn't get a "guaranteed" contract (I assume it means 1-way), he'd be willing to jump. Frankly, I think something got lost in translation. I think if the Habs aren't willing to guarantee him a spot next year, he'll jump, regardless of whether he gets a 1 or 2-way deal (he's eligible for both).

2-1 after 2. Shots are 24-18 Hamilton, Shantz is having a solid game for Abbotsford.

Another deflection, another Heat goal, 2-1. Baldwin from Wahl, 7 minutes left in the 2nd.

Palushaj picks up his first career AHL playoff goal, 1-1! Desharnais with the assist.

Speak of the devil, Mitera shoots, deflects off Van der Gulik and in, 1-0 Heat. 2nd period shots were 10-1 Hamilton before that. Backlund with the other assist.

Still scoreless nearing the midway mark. An interesting tidbit - This is the 2nd straight series where the Bulldogs are facing at least 1 Anaheim defenceman (Mitera for Abbotsford, Salcido for Manitoba) despite neither team being affiliated with the Ducks directly. (Anaheim is the only NHL team without a full time AHL affiliate.)

Scoreless through 1, Abbotsford blocking a lot of shots...where have we seen that before? Lines I've tried to piece together from listening to the radio broadcast: Forwards: Trotter - Desharnais - Palushaj Russell - Stevenson - Glumac Conboy - White - Wyman Masse - Fortier - Bishop Defence: Benoit - St. Denis Belle - Vernace Henry - Anderson

Round 2 referees and linesmen: http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=527530 Note the presence of Chris Lee on that list, we may not have escaped him just yet.

Really, how so? Plekanec took the team to arbitration; he wanted a 1 year deal. Seems to me that last year most fans wanted him gone, can you honestly say you expected a bounce back year and that management should have sensed it and gave him a multi-year deal? Most people, possibly including yourself, would have wanted his head on a platter if Gainey did that. As for the goalies, both struggled somewhat last year, it would have been dumb to deal from a position of weakness. If Halak gets a $4-5 M offer sheet, you thank him for his service and move on. Take the picks (including at least 1 first rounder) and use it to replenish the picks dealt in years past and move forward with Price or get a new goalie, perhaps with the picks you just got. I don't think the Habs were actively shopping either goalie this year or last (I don't buy the "Gainey offered Halak to Philly for a 2nd" rumour that was reported by just 1 reporter who Gainey allegedly told; it seems a little hard to believe that he'd show favourtism to the media, that's asking for trouble) and there weren't too many rumblings aside from that. I think the decision was made a couple years ago to let both deals expire at the same time, keep the better of the two and part ways with the other. May not be the best strategy, but it's a strategy nonetheless.

Letang claims that the Habs are the favourites having taken out Washington. Not sure I'm buying that... Link

Calder Cup Playoffs North Division Finals Game #1 Abbotsford Heat @ Hamilton Bulldogs (Series tied 0 - 0) Thursday, April 29, 2010 Puck drops at 7:30pm ET Listen to the game live at www.talk820.com Fans in the Hamilton area can also watch this game live on Cable 14 TV. Series Notes: - Hamilton won 5 of 8 meetings against the Heat this year (only a 2-2 home record though); only once did Abbotsford score more than 2 goals. - Abbotsford is the first team in AHL history to rally from a 3-1 deficit by winning both Games 6 and 7 on the road. - Hamilton's leading scorer in the playoffs isn't with the team (Subban), Brett Sutter (2-6-8) leads the way for the Heat. - Injury news: Curtis Sanford is close to returning (though Desjardins will stay in goal), the others (Carle, Neilson, Pacioretty) will not be back this series. Weber is once again DTD.

I forget where I saw it - most likely on a TV station where the coverage will start at 12; they just called it game time instead.

He'll be staying, they've said as much already. Besides, if he went down, the Habs wouldn't be able to bring him back unless the Bulldogs are eliminated. I agree with you on his performance, a couple of rough moments but some good plays too. He's not being over/underplayed, can't complain. I've merged this thread with the Subban gets recalled one, we don't need 2 Subban threads on the go...

They bumped the start time of the Boston/Philly game to noon, not sure when the Derby coverage starts but I would hope by bumping it up they're at least trying to avoid that embarrassment again.

May as well start a thread to discuss the series before it gets underway tomorrow. I'll add some stats and whatnot as the day progresses (when I have time). Schedule: Game 1: @ PIT, April 30, 7 PM Game 2: @ PIT, May 2, 2 PM Game 3: @ MTL, May 4, 7 PM Game 4: @ MTL, May 6, 7 PM Game 5: @ PIT, May 8, 7 PM* Game 6: @ MTL, May 10, 7 PM* Game 7: @ PIT, May 12, TBD* All times EST. * - if necessary. All games are televised in Canada on CBC and RDS; in the USA: Game 1 plus 3-7 on Versus, Game 2 on NBC. Regular Season Head-to-Head: Oct. 28/09: PIT 6, MTL 1 Nov. 25/09: PIT 3, MTL 1 Dec. 10/09: PIT 3, MTL 2 Feb. 6/10: MTL 5, PIT 3 Montreal's top point getters: Brian Gionta (2-2-4) Tomas Plekanec (2-2-4) Scott Gomez (1-2-3) Roman Hamrlik (1-1-2) Glen Metropolit (0-2-2) Pittsburgh's top point getters: Sidney Crosby (4-2-6) Bill Guerin (2-4-6) Sergei Gonchar (2-2-4) Chris Kunitz (1-3-4) Evgeni Malkin (1-3-4) Special Teams: Powerplay: 3/13 (23.1%) Penalty Kill: 13/15 (86.7%)