brinoch

NICE! Sweet goal by Sharp.

Now THAT was a soft goal.

The Blackhawks magic number to clinch the division is 12 against the Preds.

That's a good point. Detroit is sitting at the 8 seed right now but I'd like the 1 seed because I don't think Detroit will end up in the 8 seed and in the second round I'd like to avoid Vancouver. EDIT: Now that I think about it though, if Phoenix keeps playing well and they catch the Sharks then we could be looking at potentially having to go through San Jose and Detroit in the first two rounds as the 1 seed and that is scary. If San Jose collapses down the stretch and loses the division lead, I think they'll go out in the first round.

If the Hawks are the #1 seed, they will play whoever is the lowest remaining seed. The current matchups are: 1. Blackhawks 8. Wings 2. Sharks 7. Predators 3. Canucks 6. Kings 4. Coyotes 5. Avalanche If one of the #7 Preds or #6 Kings upset the Sharks or Canucks, the Hawks would face them. If seeds hold, then they get the #4 seeded Coyotes (or Sharks in the world where they are caught). Frankly, the coming home-and-home match-up against the Coyotes will have a lot of say over what the seeds are.

He died of a stroke about three weeks ago.

That was ugly.

Another stupid, selfish penalty by Eager.

The Hawks look fine. Really dominated that period.

Sopel is ... not good. He's also glacially slow.

Yep. I was just on the phone chatting with one of my Caps friends, and he I both agreed a double minor was more appropriate.

Ovechkin can be such a punk.

Ah crap. No Hossa.

I haven't examined the contracts, but if they've gone ahead and guaranteed most of the money this coming upcapped year, with later years significantly less, then I don't care a bit. That would be smart cap management.

Not to pile on, but Khabi wasn't good in the playoffs last season. He was average, at best. Huet is playing about as well as Khabi did right now. He's shown he can get hot; let's hope that he does.

They stopped gooning it up because they were getting their asses kicked.

Who said far past? You people are ridiculous. I never said he was done or should be retired. I said it was a lot of money for an old backup RB. He is an old backup RB. I didn't say he's worthless. I said he's an old backup RB, and is an old backup RB. I also said he's a nice complementary back for Forte and that I like that they are going away from the one back situation. But there is a significant difference between 25 and 31 in the world of professional sports. It's not enough to make all 31 year olds obsolete, but there isn't a physically demanding sport where being 31 instead of 25 isn't meaningful. It is a lot of money for Taylor. But the Bears so clearly have too many holes and too few picks that they needed the uncapped year to fill them. I'm not sure that filling RB is how I would prioritize things, but at least there is some recognition that Forte wasn't going to cut it as a single feature back.

People are freaking out because you are looking solely at the picks and ignoring that, despite the picks, Cutler still had a very good season for the Bears. He threw for 3666 yards and 27 TD's (both 2nd in team history to Kramer's '95 season). You are also completely ignoring that the rest of the offense, particularly the Oline, was not good at all. Cutler was sacked 35 times, 4th most in team history. The receivers are young and green -- but they have potential. He's also only 26 years old. Cutler is a marked upgrade over Orton or Grossman and is a legitimate franchise QB. He needs to work on decision-making in the red zone and, yes, he needs to cut down on his picks, absolutely. But the investment of 2 first round picks (and Orton) for a QB of Cutler's calibre is absolutely worth it. Cutler will be a Bear for a long time -- 10 years was bandied about. In the last 10 years, the Bears have spent two 1st round picks, a 4th and a 5th on QB's. None of the picks developed into a franchise QB, though the 4th pick is better than a journeyman. They sent that 4th to Denver. The Bears have that franchise QB now and in the system; they don't have to draft and spend time developing a QB. That is worth the cost of the future picks. There's a reason you don't see teams trading good QBs or letting them go easily. The NFL is a passing league, having stability in the QB position is critical to success and finding a franchise QB is very difficult and kind of a crapshoot.

That would be great for Jozy. Great.

I might use Feilhaber in the middle with Bradley, pushing CD out wide and Holden to the bench. But in the 4-1-4-1, I think Dempsey can play his game -- wandering into space, holding the ball, linking the attack, sometimes acting as a withdrawn striker, and just generally playing to his strengths. Edu and Bradley can play to theirs, D-Mid and Box-to-Box. I believe it is a coach's responsibility to determine his best players, and where possible, build the system around their skillset, rather than forcing a square peg into a round hole. For example, Holden and Feilhaber are clearly better than any of Ching, Casey, EJ, or Findlay.

Responding to Wolf's thoughts here... Since I was at work I couldn't watch with my normal firm attention, but I thought that the Dutch did an excellent job of taking Donovan out of the game. I would counter that if Boca's goal was a disgrace in defending (which is certainly was), then the PK was an absolute disgrace of a play -- they were equivalent and cancel each other out. Mental mistakes that cost each team a goal. The second goal was off a deflection. That happens. No shame in that for Howard. Bornstein turned and it cost the team. BS and other USMNT conversations are all aflutter about losing, but it's Holland. We're supposed to lose. It was a friendly several months before the WC, we're supposed to experiment to find the right fit. The reason I see it as encouraging is because of the strength of the Dutch team. They are a great team. Bradley was clearly evaluating players for the 23, and that's the right thing to do. Sure, the Dutch were obviously the better side, but we were in the conversation and were able to generate solid chances late in the game. And if we'd had a proper line-up (no Findlay, Torres, or Bornstein), I think we'd have done better still. I like Holden, and he's the best of the up and comers, but he's no Dempsey. If Davies is in shape to play by the WC (and your guess is as good as mine if he will be), I like this team: ---------Jozy----ChuckD--------- LD--------Edu/JJ----MB------CD Boca--Gooch---DeMerit--Specs --------------Howard------------- If Davies can't make it, I think we need to go with a 4-1-4-1. ---------------Jozy--------------- LD---------MB----CD-----Holden --------------Edu/JJ------------- Boca--Gooch---DeMerit--Specs --------------Howard-------------

Taking into consideration the opponent, the venue, and the team on the field, I think the result wasn't too bad. In fact, it's kind of encouraging. Other than a poor clear, an unlucky deflection and a horrid penalty, Howard was really tested just twice. We scored on Holland and had three very good, clear chances (Torres, Goodson, Altidore) that were close. Still, left back needs to be resolved.

The back four, when Onyewu gets back, really ought to be some combo of Bocanegra, Onyewu, DeMerit, Spector and Cherundolo: Boca -- Onyewu -- DeMerit -- Spector Spector -- Boca -- Onyewu -- Dolo Spector -- Onyewu -- DeMerit -- Dolo Boca -- Onyewu -- DeMerit -- Dolo

That was a hell of a strike by Altidore at the end.

Those were hideously bad.