2011-12 NHL season

[TruffleShuffle]

general nhl thread.

 

i'm enjoying the brendan shanahan videos explaining suspensions (even though he doesn't exactly have a lot of charisma).

 

http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=60&id=125225

[kujay]

general nhl thread.

 

i'm enjoying the brendan shanahan videos explaining suspensions (even though he doesn't exactly have a lot of charisma).

 

http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=60&id=125225

 

He's certainly been a busy guy so far.

[Derwood]

My wife won luxury suite tix to the Columbus Blue Jackets season opener next Friday. Can't wait

[frozenpondblue531]

During the MTL-TOR game, the Intermissions took place at NHL Faceoff festivities in Winnipeg. Had to have been upwards of 50,000 people chanting Go Jets Go... what a Hockey city.

[shnsajax]

My wife won luxury suite tix to the Columbus Blue Jackets season opener next Friday. Can't wait

 

I still can't believe that Columbus can hold two pro sports teams.

[Derwood]

My wife won luxury suite tix to the Columbus Blue Jackets season opener next Friday. Can't wait

 

I still can't believe that Columbus can hold two pro sports teams.

 

It's a bad TV market, but it's the biggest state capitol in the country. Our (metro) population is bigger than Memphis, Charlotte, Detroit, Baltimore, Boston, DC, Nashville, Denver, Milwaukee, St. Louis.....

[frozenpondblue531]

My wife won luxury suite tix to the Columbus Blue Jackets season opener next Friday. Can't wait

 

I still can't believe that Columbus can hold two pro sports teams.

 

True, though both teams aren't out of the woodwork yet.

 

Blue Jackets need help from casino money (poor lease certainly a big cause for financial limitations) and Crew's stadium for whatever reason isn't favorable to the fans (so I've heard, never been there).

 

I think both can thrive long term, under right circumstances. There is an attitude of Buckeyes-or-nothing from too many everyday people & the media. The Blue Jackets' lone playoff year was lambasted by Buckeyes fans if it stole attention away from their spring game that year. That Buckeyes-or-nothing else hysteria will have to alleviate, so each team can get somewhat of respectable time in the media/exposure. Additionally, the Blue Jackets can't be a losing team for 10/11 years (obviously). The market's capable, but one tide has turn and another tide has to at least settle.

[frozenpondblue531]

My wife won luxury suite tix to the Columbus Blue Jackets season opener next Friday. Can't wait

 

I still can't believe that Columbus can hold two pro sports teams.

 

It's a bad TV market, but it's the biggest state capitol in the country. Our (metro) population is bigger than Memphis, Charlotte, Detroit, Baltimore, Boston, DC, Nashville, Denver, Milwaukee, St. Louis.....

 

The above has a lot to do with where the line is drawn though, which favors Columbus' numbers.

 

I agree Columbus is a fine market, drawing quite a bit to all directions within the state.

[Derwood]

The least deal is pretty bad. The Jackets have a pretty loyal fan base (you see a ton of gear being worn around town), but the team just isn't run very well. They're also kinda screwed being the same division as Chicago and Detroit. But the arena is pretty nice, and it's in a great area (bars, restaurants, the AAA ballpark (which is amazing) and three concert venues all within a few blocks of each other).

[frozenpondblue531]

I'm very anti-PHX/FLA & pro-QUE/HAM, but I have a lot of confidence in Columbus.

 

For an expansion market with 0 franchise or pro hockey history to have 0 playoffs wins and 10/11 losing seasons and still have a respectable fan base is actually quite admirable IMO. Even markets with a past history and identity associated with the city have had bigger scares than Columbus. Actually about half the NHL markets which have existed. If the Buckeye only obsession & stadium owners lessen how much they're screwing the Blue Jackets over, they'll be fine. Just need wins for the fans.

[TruffleShuffle]

every time i see jeff carter in a bj's sweater, it seems like he has this look in his eye that says "why did you send me here??"

 

in other news, the flyers beat boston in boston tonight... since the bruins are the defending stanley cup champs, i think we can safely say that the flyers are the best team in the nhl :-)

[Prizefight]

every time i see jeff carter in a bj's sweater, it seems like he has this look in his eye that says "why did you send me here??"

 

Haha, I'm sure he was like, wait, you traded me to where?!

 

Him and Nash on a line could be pretty formidable. I'm not convinced about how well they will gel, but if they do, it'll be fun to watch them. I think Rick Nash is one of the most underrated players in the NHL

[Derwood]

Blue Jackets lost, but it was a fun game. Luxury suite is the way to watch a game 8-)

[Drew Doughty]

doughty was shockingly good what with his limited camp and tumultuous off-season. didn't make any mistakes. looked a bit rusty but never beat himself. far cry from his early season form last year, even if it's one game.

 

on another note, dion phaneuf looked really good for toronto yesterday. if he bounces back, toronto is going to make that 8th spot an interesting race. not sure that they're better than any of the teams that made the playoffs a season ago, but they're finally on the right track anyway.

[biittner77]

every time i see jeff carter in a bj's sweater, it seems like he has this look in his eye that says "why did you send me here??"

 

in other news, the flyers beat boston in boston tonight... since the bruins are the defending stanley cup champs, i think we can safely say that the flyers are the best team in the nhl :-)

 

They looked like the best team for the first half of last season too. It will be interesting to see what happens with presumably better goaltending this year.

[TruffleShuffle]

doughty was shockingly good what with his limited camp and tumultuous off-season. didn't make any mistakes. looked a bit rusty but never beat himself. far cry from his early season form last year, even if it's one game.

 

on another note, dion phaneuf looked really good for toronto yesterday. if he bounces back, toronto is going to make that 8th spot an interesting race. not sure that they're better than any of the teams that made the playoffs a season ago, but they're finally on the right track anyway.

 

i died a little inside when i saw mike richards playing for the kings. they're definitely my western conference team now, with richards and gagne at forward and terry murray behind the bench.

 

entertaining game between the caps and lightning last night... 11 goals scored, and no points each for ovechkin, mike green, semin, backstrom, st louis, stamkos or lecavalier.

[jersey cubs fan]

http://deadspin.com/5849228/a-short-strange-lesson-in-nhl-economics-with-professor-sean-avery

 

More fun with salary cap floors.

[Drew Doughty]

so i watched pittsburgh (sans malkin and crosby) and florida (sans...anyone of actual worth) yesterday and man florida is bad. i love when a team does what they do and everyone is like HEY MAYBE IT WILL PAN OUT I MEAN THEY SPENT A LOT OF MONEY IT HAS TO WORK. having gone through this with a kings a few seasons ago, i knew that the panthers were almost literally just signing players to fill roster spots. unless tallon wanted to rush all of his young talent (especially on D), he had to get bodies capable of playing nhl games or risk ruining his team 3 years down the line. so they'll be awful this year. they didn't really sign anyone with a plan in mind (similar to signing handzus, nagy, scott thornton, etc), so of course they'll be bad. getting dominated by a lackluster effort from an undermanned penguins team is a sign of things to come there. the bad news is that they're really still at least a year away. the extra bad news is that they had to overpay (in terms of years as much as anything) to really retain nhl bodies. so that sucks for them.

 

i also watched carolina/boston today: cam ward is really good. jeff skinner is really good. i didn't watch skinner much last season, but he was pretty explosive tonight. a threat every single time he was on the ice, making nice subtle plays with and even without the puck. people always wonder if players overachieve in their rookie years (especially early -- i happen to believe logan couture is one of these overachievers) but i'm pretty sure skinner won't slip backwards at all. he'll keep improving.

 

carolina, toronto, montreal, and new jersey should make a pretty entertaining race for the bottom of the playoff picture in the east. it might only be for one spot. pittsburgh, philly, buffalo, boston, tampa bay, washington, and perhaps new york i all like as near locks for the playoffs (i suppose tampa and new york are the bigger risks there). that leaves just one spot if i'm right. even if i'm wrong, that just makes the race more interesting with more teams vying for just 2 or 3 spots. i think it's a lot more interesting than last year, when it seemed almost like a battle of attrition for those last spots. new york wasn't really a very good team and everyone chasing them was even worse.

 

anyway, this is pretty much just a self-interested post. the kings haven't played an interesting game yet (as in, the europe games are a bit weird -- i didn't like it much when we played in london and i didn't care much for it this time around either) so i'm pretty excited to watch them play in north america tomorrow.

[kujay]

Tallon signed all those guys (and traded for Soupy) because he had to meet a salary cap floor.

[TruffleShuffle]

so i watched pittsburgh (sans malkin and crosby) and florida (sans...anyone of actual worth) yesterday and man florida is bad.

 

i hate pittsburgh, but they really have impressed me over the last year. malkin and crosby missed a ton of time last year and they still finished a point out from the best record in the east. this year crosby is still out and they're still winning. i mean, who's their best offensive forward when crosby and malkin aren't in the lineup? james neal? jordan staal? chris kunitz?

 

and their defensive corps is a bunch of no-names (letang being the biggest name, i suppose) that just gets the job done. i think bylsma must be a really good coach because he keeps them performing better than you'd expect given the players on the ice.

[jersey cubs fan]

so i watched pittsburgh (sans malkin and crosby) and florida (sans...anyone of actual worth) yesterday and man florida is bad.

 

i hate pittsburgh, but they really have impressed me over the last year. malkin and crosby missed a ton of time last year and they still finished a point out from the best record in the east.

 

Yeah, I don't know how they do it, but getting manhandled by a Pittsburgh team that lacks Malkin and Crosby doesn't say a whole lot.

[SouthSideRyan]

My wife won luxury suite tix to the Columbus Blue Jackets season opener next Friday. Can't wait

 

I still can't believe that Columbus can hold two pro sports teams.

 

It's a bad TV market, but it's the biggest state capitol in the country. Our (metro) population is bigger than Memphis, Charlotte, Detroit, Baltimore, Boston, DC, Nashville, Denver, Milwaukee, St. Louis.....

 

The area around the stadium is fantastic. I hope they thrive.

[jersey cubs fan]

http://deadspin.com/5851282/homemade-hockey-pads-offer-little-protection-it-turns-out

 

Crazy german ice fun

[sneakypower]

jamie benn making fools of the BJs

 

[Derwood]

jamie benn making fools of the BJs

 

 

CBJ's defense is laughably bad, and Mason is terrible. There was one goal on opening night that I saw coming 30 seconds away, as the entire defense was just standing around and Nashville was skating at will.