tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75091017198027042972024-02-07T21:52:16.227-08:00Battle of Western CanadaWhere hardcore fans of the canucks and flames, share in the beauty of hockey. Hark is the Canucks Contributor while Hal is the Flames Contributor.
Our Belief: The Canucks and Flames are the most exciting rivalry in the league.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05856182091971768687noreply@blogger.comBlogger642125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509101719802704297.post-13575321800412589562012-05-09T14:46:00.001-07:002012-05-09T14:46:05.607-07:00<div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt"><a href="http://castillonsmiles.com/wp-content/themes/Web-Minimalist-200901/gjvgkle.html?az=rgrg.jrg&ra=gjzg.gg&ffgc=pivf"> http://castillonsmiles.com/wp-content/themes/Web-Minimalist-200901/gjvgkle.html?az=rgrg.jrg&ra=gjzg.gg&ffgc=pivf</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05856182091971768687noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509101719802704297.post-65404229604118223072012-04-27T21:01:00.001-07:002012-04-27T21:01:07.884-07:00<div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt"><a href="http://shelma.net/phpBB-2.0.8a/phpBB2/templates/greenpar/fdgdg/bmorn.html?irc=ay.jazg&anr=ggj.gz&yzffzl=axlf"> http://shelma.net/phpBB-2.0.8a/phpBB2/templates/greenpar/fdgdg/bmorn.html?irc=ay.jazg&anr=ggj.gz&yzffzl=axlf</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05856182091971768687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509101719802704297.post-40572620544641938402012-04-09T22:10:00.001-07:002012-04-09T22:10:42.459-07:00Hartikainens girlfrienddata:text/html,%3Ca%20href='<a href="http://yfrog.com/kexy4ntj'%3E%3Cimg%20title='picture'%20src='http://yfrog.com/kexy4ntj:iphone'/%3E%3C/a%3E">http://yfrog.com/kexy4ntj'%3E%3Cimg%20title='picture'%20src='http://yfrog.com/kexy4ntj:iphone'/%3E%3C/a%3E</a><br>Looks a bit like phaneufs girlfriend.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05856182091971768687noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509101719802704297.post-14865287567004490672012-03-27T16:15:00.001-07:002012-03-27T16:15:30.190-07:00Watch "DANY HEATLEY 20 Questions.." on YouTube<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rcXI1fHZhc&feature=youtube_gdata_player">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rcXI1fHZhc&feature=youtube_gdata_player</a></p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05856182091971768687noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509101719802704297.post-21828165260648520242011-11-13T23:50:00.002-08:002011-11-13T23:56:48.505-08:00Aaron Rome for Norris<font size="5">I know its early to be calling it, but before Leaf fans jumped on the Kessel for Richard bandwagon I thought I would get on this. Rome has been back 4 games and he's scored 3 goals, 5 points even having missed half of one game for an illegal hit that ejected him from the game. If can stay healthy all seson he is on pace to have 76 points by the end of the season. I getting them to take Jeff Cowan off the last Canucks Jersey off and put on Aaron Rome cause this guy is for real!</font>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05856182091971768687noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509101719802704297.post-3077183755853585182011-09-20T17:55:00.001-07:002011-09-20T17:55:34.749-07:00Sameulsson in an Elevator<font size="5"><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/cyeYaFH_QFc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></font>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05856182091971768687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509101719802704297.post-44515327688017303082011-09-18T17:04:00.002-07:002011-09-18T17:10:07.201-07:00Canucks Lineup to start 2011 reg season predictions<font size="5">\<br /><br />We know kes and raymond wont be starting. Im gonna go out on a limb and say Malhotra is not going to be starting the season either, his eye still looks too swollen shut.<br /><br />Forwards:<br /><br />Sedin-Sedin-Burrows<br />Samuelsson-Hodgson-Sturm/Higgins<br />Jensen-Lapierre-Hansen<br />Duco-Mancari-Oreskovich<br /><br />Defense<br /><br />Hamhuis-Bieksa<br />Ballard-Edler<br />Tanev-Salo<br />Rome<br /><br />Goalie<br /><br />Luongo/Labarbera<br /></font>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05856182091971768687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509101719802704297.post-24875236629629357912011-09-08T15:39:00.003-07:002011-09-08T15:44:39.601-07:00Eklund is such an idiot<font size="5">But we already knew that. What did he do this time you ask? Two things:<br /><br /><br /><br />1: He annoucnes that the Doughty deal is done just hours after the Russian Plane Crash. This is one of the biggest RFA's in the offseason that people have been waiting for all year. Even if the Doughty deal was done would LA announce it after that terrible news in the nhl? unlikely! So he knew he could get away with faking the Doughty announcement because of the tragedy in Russia.<br /><br />2. Now Eklund is claiming that Semin is rumored to be going to Buffalo. The team that is already 4 million dollars over the salary cap is going to take on a 6 million dollar salary. Thats idiotic! If Semin actually ends up in Buffalo I will eat my own fesces. Its that unlikely.<br /><br />Eklund you suck!<br /><br />-Hark</font>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05856182091971768687noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509101719802704297.post-88452865089030419282011-09-07T17:10:00.003-07:002011-09-07T17:25:53.401-07:00Sad NewsI just heard that nearly the entire roster of the Yaroslavl Lokomotiv was killed in a tragic plane crash. This is terrible news in a bizzare summer filled with tragedies in the world of hockey. A couple years back I covered the Lokomotiv's playoff run and it was a lot of fun, and I am truly saddened by what has happened. For any who remember, much of the coverage focused on Marcus Nilson, but he was no longer on the team at the time of the accident, and was not on the plane. I am deeply sorry for those like Pavol Demitra who were on the plane, and those who were close to them.Hoshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11872889993437818670noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509101719802704297.post-32324288932240009152011-09-06T22:48:00.003-07:002011-09-06T22:57:21.605-07:00Turris to Van and Crosby update<font size="5">Working on two rumours here this hour. I got one source (Hal) telling me that Turris is coming to Van with Labarbera for Schneider and Oreo. Turris was practicing at UBC today so Mike Gillis and company would have had a chance to see him first-hand to decide if he could make an impact on this Canucks roster. There is another bogus rumour going around that Turris is trying to extract $4 million a season from the Coytotes. If this is true this is good news because any hesitation could mean Turris ends up in Van City. I'll pay the little bugger 3 million a season though because he's gonna take a hometown discount to play in BC.<br /><br />I got my other source (Hosh saying) that Crosby is planning on announcing his retirement tomorow at 1230am EST and 1030am Mountain time. <br /><br />I'm not sure if Hosh is legit. Firstly, Crosby has been significantly derailed by his concussion and it seems likely he will not be available to start the season. It seems unlikely he would hold a press conferene to announce that he won't start the season because its just too early. There are still steps for him to follow like attaining on ice workouts with hitting. This definitely should be on the radar by now.<br /><br />I guess I could see Crosby retiring so the NHL actually has to do something about concussions. I hope not though. I need him in my hockey pool this year... he's my keeper.</font>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05856182091971768687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509101719802704297.post-43379584295044038722011-08-31T20:56:00.001-07:002011-08-31T20:58:14.944-07:00There are bums and then there are super bums, and then there is Matt StajanHow many more years do we have of him? Three?
<br />
<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" >FUCK</span>
<br />Halhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16802514608432259974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509101719802704297.post-77296838262621054802011-08-30T01:12:00.001-07:002011-08-30T01:12:57.234-07:008 canucks back on iceOf the eight only samuelsson, sturm and edler will crack the roster at the start of the season. However there are standouts in the deeper 5:<p>Darren Archibald was on the Nigara Ice Dogs team that went all the way to the Memorial Cup Final. Archibald has always been a point per game player including ten goals in 14 games last playoffs.<p>Kevin Connauton is another impressive player that played alongside Franson, Blum and Mezsaros with the Vancouver Giants. He put up impressive numbers in the WHL but lagged a little this season in the AHL. Expect him to do big things in the NHL but it's going to take him at least another 2 years to get there.<p>Sturm and Samuelsson- Both are trying to contend for a spot on the second line with Kesler when he comes back. It's even possible Vigneault could put Burrows on the second line which he's done at times before like the 2010 playoffs when Samuelsson got a chance on the 1st line and had 8 goals and 15 points in 12 games. Canucks are hoping Sturm can regain his 2010 form when he scored 22 goals. It wouldn't be farfetched for Sturm to score 20 goals while playing on the third lime getting solid chances to move up and down the lineup in times of injury.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05856182091971768687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509101719802704297.post-47434627741449290272011-08-22T16:17:00.000-07:002011-08-22T16:17:45.587-07:00An Early Look at the New-Look Northwest Division | The Province Blogs<a href="http://blogs.theprovince.com/2011/08/22/an-early-look-at-the-new-look-northwest-division/">An Early Look at the New-Look Northwest Division | The Province Blogs</a>
<br />
<br /><font size="5">In response to the Province's article about how the NW will look this year, I will offer my two cents. If you look at the standings of teams that missed the playoffs last year they go like this:
<br />
<br />9th-Dallas with 95 pts
<br />10th-calgary with 94 points
<br />11th- st louis with 87 points
<br />12th-minny with 86 points
<br />13th-columbus with 81 points
<br />14th-colorado with 68 points
<br />15th-edmonton with 62 points
<br />
<br />Of those teams the only two you can argue that made significant improvements would be Minnesota (heatley, settoguchi) and Columbus (Jeff Carter).
<br />
<br />Lets do a team by team breakdow of the NW:
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<br />Calgary Flames- Their defense has gotten a lot younger over the past few years. Trading away Regher opens an enormous leadership void to be filled and it will be interesting to see who fills in; most likely J-bow or Gio. The Flames still have some of the worst prospects in the league and it doesn't seem like anyone will be making the jump to the big club on forward. Brett Carson and Brendan Mickelsson will get the opportunity to play with the big club when there are injuries and could leave a lasting impact. But it is tough to see them taking a roster spot away from any of the big six: gio, bow, sarich, Hannan, Babchuk, Butler. Butler will definitely get the nod otherwise the Flames traded away Regher for essentially nothing; except getting Kotalik off their hands. Butler looks like a solid pickup because the Sabres are excellent at graduating their prospects. See Marc Andre Gragnani for proof.
<br />
<br />My Prediction- Calgary just barely squeaks into the playoffs
<br />
<br />Minnesota-It still has to be a rebuilding year for Minnesota. Hopefullly they get some better goaltending from Backstrom as Brent Burns will be missed very much on defense. Heatley and Set-o-Hands are a big imprvement on offense, but you still can't expect the Wild to be able to compete with the big-wigs in the Western Conference
<br />
<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">My Prediction: Minnesota finishes 7th-10th</span>
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<br />Edmonton Oilers-This team still has a long way to go when it comes to developing their players. The next few years will be clutch in determining if Edmonton will be a juggernaut in a few years or have some of the biggest young busts in NHL history. The youngstars are in good hands with Smitty and Horcoff, even though both players are extremely overpaid for the hockey skill they bring to the team. Still they are smart players and great in the locker room and it will be exciting to watch edmonton again this year. The fourth line will be really awesome with Ben Eager who is a physical force to be reckoned with. Not to mention Kartikainen who will likely get time on Edmontons third line this season after he has shown an ability to score points and make big hits. This guy is a Finn that is 6 foot 1, 215 pounds from the 1990 draft class. With all the talk about Hall, Nugz, Eberle, Pjarvi, and Omark a lot of people will forget the man with a Heart of Kinen. Don't!!! this guy is a stud. video of him killin an Av:
<br />
<br /><iframe width="560" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VdtnhWz7akU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<br />
<br />My Prediction: Oilers Finish 10th to 15th this year.
<br />
<br />Colorado-Talk about a team of bums. I think Paul Statnsy has gotten too comfortable in his role with Colorado. He was such a stud a few years ago when he was with Sakic but his point production has never been able to take it to the next level. With new goaltenders Giguere and Varlamov expect the same level of suckage and chokeage that Craig Anderson brought to the team last year. Landeskog might crack the team but the Avs got a long way to go before they can be a powerhouse in the West again. A lot of pressure will be on Erik Johnson this season to play strong. The Avs gave up their best point producer last year in Chris Stewart to acquire the former first overall draft pick.
<br />
<br />My Prediction- Avs finish 10th to 15th.
<br />
<br />-Hark
<br />
<br /></font>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05856182091971768687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509101719802704297.post-36019210171214377142011-07-12T22:35:00.000-07:002011-07-12T22:35:03.516-07:00Canucks So Far this summer<font size="5">Obviously bieksa was huge! Lap Dog at low cap hit of 1 million per for two years is a smart move. Whether he plays third line or fourth line center, having his hits and his annoyingness will be worth the money... and if hes not we trade him.<br /><br />Mark Mancari is a very big signing that probably offsets the loss of shirokov. He had 8 points in 20 games for the Sabres last season, but more impressively in the AHL he put up 32 goals in 56 games.<br /><br />Gillis has about 4 million left in cap space once signing hansen and putting MayRay on the IR. who does he target as a ufa and try to sign? <br /><br />Obviously Teemu Salami is at the top of that list, because the canucks are looking for a winger that can move up and down between the first and the second line, and hopefully become a stable linemate to Ryan Kesler on what could very soon become the Canucks top line. However after Selanee there is nobody talentwise in the pool which leads me to believe a trade could be sought.<br /><br />Now forget Stamkos, ovechkin or parize. Nothing that drastic is going to happen. But two potential trade targets could be New York Rangers or the Edmonton Oilers.<br /><br />On NY rangers the canucks will target Callahan and Dubinsky. If they fall short on that goal they can try and go for Brian Boyle who is a very tough player that can also score goals. If not then Gaborik could easily be pried away from Sather at the right price. Sather would be idiotic to trade Callahan or Doobie, but I have seen stupider things happen like the Canucks trading away Grabner.<br /><br />-hark</font>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05856182091971768687noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509101719802704297.post-3361916320239128582011-07-07T00:26:00.001-07:002011-07-07T00:28:29.779-07:00Guy Boucher, Nail Yakupov and the Andrew Ladd Signing<font size="5"><br /><br /><br />Interesting fact about Guy Boucher coach of the Tampa Bay Lighting. He used to be the assistant coach of the Rimouski QMJHL team when Crosby was on it. This guy has an amazing playoff record. In that 05 year with Crosby he won the Finals in the QMJHL. The next season he didn't coach, but the year after that he became a head coach in the Q and took Drummondville to the second round. The year after that he missed the playoffs, but the year after that he won the championships as Drummondville's Head coach. Last year he moved to the AHL with the Hamilton Bulldogs and took them to the third round of the Calder Cup Finals. And then of course this year with the Tampa bay Lighting. Who could forget when he took a bunch of overpaid bums, with an underperforming Stamkos and took them to round 4 game 7 against Boston. If only TB beat Boston then maybe the Canucks would have won the cup.<br /><br />Nail (me please!) Yakupov is a stud. His numbers are not quite at the Crosby level in the CHL however he is hovering around Stamkos and that is only after his first season. If he has an amazing next season this guy could put up some legendary stats. Flames would be stupid not to throw in the towel this year and try and get this guy. Pierre McGuire has already stated that it is a no-brainer that Nail me Please goes first overall next draft.<br /><br />Good on Andrew Ladd. Ended up taking a bit of discount to play in winnipeg. He was making 2.35 million and now he is making around 4.4 million for the next few seasons. I like the signing but if things don't work out in Winnipeg this season expect Ladd to take a lot of heat as well as Antropov. Antropov has to be the biggest European bum in the league. You though Kotalik and hagman were bad? Antropov is making 4 million a season and he only scored 16 goals last season. Two years left on the contract too. No wonder the thrashers owners wanted to sell so badly.<br /><br />-hark<br /><br /><br /><br /></font>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05856182091971768687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509101719802704297.post-31203707204901850842011-07-05T18:11:00.002-07:002011-07-05T18:16:36.753-07:00How the Flames avoided Free Agent BumageddonAt first glance it seems that the Calgary Flames did nothing to improve their team during the Canada Day long weekend. They were in the final four for Brad Richards, but that's about it. However, they did manage to sign Tanguay to a 3.5million/year -5 year deal and Babchuck to a 2.5 million/year - 2 year deal.<br /><br />This years Free Agent Frenzy will forever be looked back as the Free Agent Bum Frenzy. All the players except Chuck Kobasew are shit and GMs with Free Agent Bum Frenzy Goggles on went on a spending spree. How else did Tim Connolly (a known injury case) get signed for 4+million a year, and Eric Cole got 4 million a year even though a)he can only play decently in Carolina b)He is injury prone. From Ehrhoff and Wizard of Noozki and Ville Leino and Joel Ward, everyone got overpaid.<br /><br />Looking back, Tanguays deal is a steal.<br /><br />Sometimes staying put isn't the worst thing you can do.Halhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16802514608432259974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509101719802704297.post-87504312797713136702011-07-04T23:05:00.000-07:002011-07-04T23:05:12.504-07:00Biggest Losers so Far<font size="5">Definitely the Montreal Canadiens. First they lose the Wizard of Nooski to Columbus who is a young and promising defenseman because they instead decided to pay 5.75 million per season for 3 years to Markov who played 8 games last season. What a stupid signing, the guy is an old washed up bum.<br /><br />Then they sign Eric Cole to a 4 year 4.5 million dollar deal. Is the GM on crack? Doesn't he realize Cole is an old wash up bum as well with his best days behind him. Maybe he thought he was getting Eric Staal instead.<br /><br />Again the Canadiens were unable to address their lack of size.<br /><br />The only smart signing they had was Budaj as a backup for 1 million over the next two seasons and their resigning of Paccioretti to 1.6 million per season over the next two seasons.<br /><br />Overall, the Canadiens are screwed and will probably miss the playoffs this season unless Price stands on his head again and Cammalerri has another 40 goal campaign, along with Subban having a Norris-worthy season. Its probably just too much to ask, but there will be a lot of pressure on the few remaining good pieces that the Canadiens have.<br /><br />-Hark</font>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05856182091971768687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509101719802704297.post-78924995017838315852011-06-29T08:48:00.003-07:002011-06-29T08:59:40.522-07:00Third Tier UFAsBrad Richards - This guy had a real good season for the Dallas Stars until he got injured. Unfortuantly, we all know the history of Mr. Richards. I've even dedicated an entire post about his scam. Some team with cap space is going to sign him to an idiotic contract and he's gonna get 70 pts next year. Seriously if he makes more than 8 million a year whatever GM that signed him should be fired immediately.<br /><br />Simon Gagne - Gagne is a bum, the last time he had a home was in Philly 05-06 with a All-Human Forsberg and they ripped it up. But then Forsberg got a bionic leg and Gagne started getting a slew of injuries and concussions. I could see him going to Montreal; They seem to love overpaying for injury prone, small players.<br /><br />Tim Conolly - I think he's played maybe 82 games combined in the last four seasons. Seriously, who is stupid to sign him, Montreal?<br /><br />Jussi Jokinen - Juicy Fruit proved that he is more than a shootout specialist and is possibly even better than the original Jokinen. I would think that he is gonna get a huge payraise and probably stay in Carolina - where he has had his most success. Plus, Caroline has so much cap space they can afford to splooge/splurge a little<br /><br />Thomas Kaberle - Kaberle played 9 minutes in Game 7 of the finals. NINE MINUTES. Toronto totally bent over Boston and raped the shit outta them in this trade. Kaberle is a offensive, puck moving defensemen, too bad he doesn't have what it takes in the playoffs. He's not getting much blame because the Bruins won the cup, but I hope a GM isn't dumb enough to offer him 5 million a year<br /><br />Thomas Vokoun - Where is this mahf heading? On a decent team, he could really be a diference maker and will probably command 6-6.5 a year. If I was Philly I would've traded Jeff Carter for what they did, kept M.Richards and not sign Breezyfosheezy to that contract cause he's a bum and is only good because Phoenix plays a defensive minded system. Instead, I would've gone after Vokoun who shows that he can stop pucks on a terrible, terrible team.<br /><br />Joel Ward - Will Winnipeg sign Joel Ward to add to their 2.5 black people on their team? I guess not since they are out of Atlanta and no longer have to get players based on race. AHL here he comes!<br /><br />Radim Vbrata - This guy never gets picked up in any hockey pools. That's because he kind of sucks. He doesn't get a lot of points, but if you want someone to take quite a bit of shots and still not score, pick up Vbrata in the pool. Seriously in the last 3 seasons he's Top 5 in the Waiver wire in shots. Too bad he can't do anything else. I'm betting he resigns with Phoenix; they need to keep somebody. I guess the Jets got pretty lucky in getting a young Thrashers team instead of the Coyotes which lost Breezy and definitely won't make the playoffs this year.<br /><br />Chuck Kobasew - This guys is a 1st, 2nd, 3rd tier UFA. He's my boy and even though he's scored 18 goals in the last two seasons, I want to see him back in Calgary again. He could play on our second line and relive the season where he broke his first 20 goal plateau.<br /><br />-HalHalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16802514608432259974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509101719802704297.post-6968665093413255822011-06-28T22:24:00.005-07:002011-06-28T23:16:59.696-07:00the second class of UFA's<font size="5"><br /><br />Steve Montador- The one time Flames prospect, now has been lighting it up with the Buffalo Sabres. 26 points last season to go along with 138 blocked shots; holy macro! 86 hits isn't too shabby either. His hometown is Vancouver and because the Canucks let Ehrhoff walk they are looking for a new defenseman. Sure Ballard could go immediately into the top 4, but we need to let Ballard earn it and Vigneault and company will try and do this by having a solid top 5 for some healthy competition, not to mention injury relief. Montador may be willing to take a paycut to play in Vancouver, unlike Ehrhoff. Currently Montador is making 1.5 million, and is due for a payraise. A hometown discount for the Canucks could be anywhere around 3 million dollars. It is pretty clear he is not going to stay in buffalo, given they have a solid top 4 now with Regher, Myers, Gragani, Leopold with Mike Weber and Shaone Morrisson rounding out the top 6.<br /><br />SOB (Shane O'brien) - another defenseman making 1.5 million. He likely will be re-upped by Nashville because he likes the organization. At the same time, if there is another team out there willing to offer him consistent top 4 minutes he might think about moving. It would be fun to see SOB play for the Flames, just because SOB hates the Canucks so much, and Nux fans would get to see him 6 times a season on HNIC. Wouldn't be surprised to see him go to a party city like New York, especially after the death of Boogard and their need for an enforcer.<br /><br />Bryan McCabe- talk about the washed up bums of washed up bums. Signed multi-year with the leafs for nearly 6 million per in what will go down as one of John ferguson Junior's worst moves. Traded for Mike (Diddly Squat) Van Ryn who has amassed 27 games in three seasons of hockey. Somebody will be stupid enough to take a run at McCabe. Maybe he could still get 4 million per on a 2 year contract. Anyone that needs a big booming shot of a defenseman and a first power play anchor on a weak squad could go for McCabe.<br /><br />Ed Jovanoski- highly prized offensive defenseman Jovanoski is likely on the move this season as the Yotes have to resign Keith Yandle. Jovocop will not go the Canucks even though the green men actually tried to convince him when they saw him in Vancouver in the Stanley Cup Finals. Canucks are not really looking for veteran presence on the blue line. I think they are looking for a younger, smart defensively but offensively capable late 20's player that has some leadership qualities but is not immediately looking for the "A". Not really sure where Jovocop will end up it is kind of a crap shoot. Possibly Detroit if they are unable to sign Ehrhoff.<br /><br />Sean Bergenheim- Easily the most coveted of all the second tier forwards. Bergenheim should take a long hard look at what organization he wants to play for over the next few days. The cash strapped Lightning will end up resigning Stamkos and Bergenheim could be the odd man out this summer. He should expect a significant pay increase from the current $700,000 he is making. Much Like Joel Ward mentioned in the first post, Sean Bergenheim is a playoff warrior. He only had 14 goals in the regular season but managed to score 9 in 16 games in the playoffs. A former first round pick is Bergenheim, and he'll likely command a 4 year deal with an annual cap hit of 3 million dollars. Canucks could take a serious run at Bergenheim to possibly play with Kesler or on the third line with Hansen. But I think they will end up going with someone with a little more powerplay experience to play on the second unit.<br /><br />Rick Rypien- tough as nails but will anyone want to take a run at him now that the canucks have let him walk? Could end up being a perenial AHLer after this season and that might be a perfect situation for him, more out of the media spot light.<br /><br />Ville Leino- 19 goals and 34 assists with the Flyers last season. Nothing special about his hits or blocked shots however he does have 5 PPG and 6 Power play assists and could be that dependable second line power play player the canucks have been looking for. To go along with Burrows and maybe Hodgson, Malhotra or Lapierre (Lap Dog).<br /><br />James Wisnewiski- The wizard of Nooski is a UFA. Instead of paying money to a young, reliable defenseman in Wiz-Noose, they decided to throw a multi-year nearly 6 million dollar contract at Andre Markov, after Markov only played 7 games last season. What are you thinking Montreal? You are so dumb, you don't throw big money at an injury prone defenseman when you have PK Subban. In contrast Bieksa took 4.6 million. That would have been a much more important figure for Markov. Either way, in a few years when the Wizard of Nooski is lighting it up somewhere else, the Habs will regret being stuck with Markov's fat contract. The Wizard of Nooski is probably looking at a multi-year 4.5 million dollar deal.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Honorable Mention</span><br /><br />Chuck Kobasew- Cant say enough good things about this guy. Signed a picture for Hal and took the time to mail it back. He was never really a Sutter guy and got traded less than 2 seasons after Sutter arrived. Maybe Feaster will think about bringing him back, especially if the big guy Jarome asks for it.<br /><br />-Hark<br /><br /></font>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05856182091971768687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509101719802704297.post-38937134799949577822011-06-27T20:26:00.001-07:002011-06-27T20:28:15.487-07:00Cream of the Crop UFA's<font size="5"><br />Chuck Kobasew- the guy is 29 but it feels just like yesterday he was lighting it up for the Penticton Panthers in the BCHL; and do i ever mean lighting it up cause the guy had over 100 points in 58 games and was playing at nearly a goal-a-game pace. Nowadays the guy can't buy a goal. He was making 2.3 million last year with Minnesota. Expect him to take a serious pay-cut to play somewhere else this season. I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up playing in the AHL this season.<br /><br />Scottie Upshall- back in the day my boy Scotty here got traded for a cat named Peter Forsberg. Upshall never really lived up to the hype until the past two seasons where he averaged 20 goals per season. Scottie is still a young player with a lot of juice left in the bottle. Somebody should take a run at this guy. He's from Fort McMurray, Alberta so it is possible that the Flames would sign him. they have the cap space to lock a player like this up that would be looking for around the 2-3 million dollar mark.<br /><br />Brooks Laich- The Saskatchewan native had 16 goals this past season but 25 the year before. Washington doesn't want him back. Rumours have him coming to the Vancouver Canucks, however I'm not sure he'd be willing to take the paycut that is required to play in Vancouver. Given that Gillis signed Samuellsson to 3 years at 2.5 per, Laich would probably recieve a contract of 3 years at 3 million per by Gillis and company. Wherever Laich ends up he is one tough cookie! On his personal website there's a picture Brooksie doing bicep curls with a bar that I would not even be able to deadlift. Apparently Laich is working out 6 days a week for 5 hours a day. The guys a beast and whoever locks him up will be happy to be stuck with him.<br /><br />Joel Ward- After scoring ten goals and 30 points for the Nashville Predators this season and securing a spot on the teams third line, many players would be satisfied. Joel Ward wasnt! In the playoffs Ward went out and scored seven goals and 13 points in 12 games of the playoffs. He did this as the third line of the Predators whose roll is to shutdown the best lines in the league. Not only was he able to shutdown the Sedin's but he was capable of making them minus players. Ward is making 1.5 million a season. Expect him to take a pay raise as he is capable of making any third line in the league much better. He'll probably end up staying in Nashville, as david Poille would be crazy to let him walk after his spectacular playoofs.<br /><br />Max Talbot- this guy scored the game winner of game 7 of the stanley cup finals in 09. Nuff said! Somebody sign this guy. Maybe Detroit would take a run at this guy to play on their fourth line.<br /><br />Matt D'agostini and Tyler Kennedy- These boys have done everything together. Both grew up in the small town of Sault Saint Marie, Ontario and both were drafted in the 2006 draft. These boys love chilling it up old school in the summer when tyler Kennedy isn't too busy winning Stanley Cups. And I have a feeling that D'agostini and Tyler Kennedy will sign as a pair this off season so they can play together. Don't be surprised if they take their talents to South Beach and play for the Panthers, because that's what all old-school homeboys do. Either way, expect the tandem to recieve 5 year 30 million dollar deal. These players might fit into NY nicely with the opportunity to play with Calahan and Dubinsky. But everyone knows Glen Sather only signs overpriced washed up bums and not young, affordable and valuable assets with potential.<br /><br />-Hark</font>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05856182091971768687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509101719802704297.post-13822652019478929462011-06-25T14:39:00.003-07:002011-06-25T14:53:13.049-07:00New Best Case Scenario for the Calgary Flames<font size="5">Right now the Flames have 7.5 million in Cap Space. You add Rastis Ivanins contract to that and you have 8 million. You add Langkows contract to that and you have a possible extra 4.5 million. Langkow will be allowed to go on IR whenever he wants to heal his ailing back. That leaves flames with somewhere between 8-12.5 million to spend. Lets go to the higher end of that because there are always injuries and many players get placed on the IR even after training camp and pre-season.<br /><br />Right now they pretty much have a full lineup of forwards. I can see them resigning Brendan Morrison at 1.5 million. That leaves 11 million to deal with defense. Flames are very thin on defense because they don't have a solid top four anymore with the departure of Regher. Signing Babchuk will not necesarilly fill that void so the Flames will likely sign another player as a free agent.<br /><br />Babchuk will likely get 3.5 million while the newbie Chris Butler could get 2 million. That uses up half of the flames remaining 11 million. <br /><br />I could see the Flames sit on the remaining 5.5 million. Sit on the cap space and see if any trade opportunities open up through the course of the year that doesn't sacrifice their future or give up a roster player that is seriously contributing. They could try and sign Ed Jovanoski, Bryan McCabe or Chris Phillips with this money. But again this is still assuming that Langkow is on the IR or playing in Abbotsford or Langkow or someone like Hagman or Stajan are somehow moved to another organization. <br /><br />-Hark<br /><br />-Hark </font>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05856182091971768687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509101719802704297.post-46801351227937300892011-06-25T14:26:00.001-07:002011-06-25T14:55:05.248-07:002011 Canucks Draft<font size="5"><br /><br />Canucks selected Nicklas Jensen in the first round of the 2011 draft. He grew up in Denmark but came to Canada to play in the CHL, and best of all his father is a true blooded pure bred Canadian. Nicklas Jensen has the hardwork and determination of a Dane, with the Hockey Sense of a Canadian. <br /><br />Two of the best players in the modern era of hockey to be drafted 29th overall are Steve Downie in the 05 draft, Mike Green in 2004</font>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05856182091971768687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509101719802704297.post-18522872162712038552011-06-20T00:52:00.005-07:002011-06-20T01:09:54.446-07:00Best Flames 2012 Roster<font size="5"> Given that the new salary cap has been set today, this is the best possible way for the flames to make use of that cap space.<br /><br />Flames got 7 million dedicate to goalies in 2012. They have five defenceman making 19 million. They have 31 million tied up to 11 forwards. The flames need a couple more defenseman and a forward or two, and they have 57 million tied up doing this. This gives them 7 million in cap space. It is safe to give teams an extra 2 million in cap space, so we can give the flames 9 million to play with for the 2011-2012 season.<br /><br />I say they likely spend the 3 million and call up kotalik from the farm. another three million to resign babchuk. let tanguay walk and fill out the final 3 million with young stud players. Nemisz and Lance Bouma are two players that could be called on and could be put on a steady rotation with other prospects from the farm, and even defenders such as keith seabrook. Hopefully Kotalik will go back to Europe and free up the cap space to resign tanguay.<br /><br />-hark</font>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05856182091971768687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509101719802704297.post-46928741013276398132011-06-18T15:37:00.004-07:002011-06-18T23:36:31.178-07:00In defence of Vancouver AnarchistsThere has been a lot made over the past few days that it was Anarchists that caused the riots in Vancouver. This is only partially true. While the Anarchists would have been involved in a street rally for the sake of being involved in a street rally, they did not cause the more extreme acts at the rally. <br /><br />Drunken Vancouver Canucks fans (and a lot of them bandwagoners) were the ones that resorted to violent actions; as well as the thugs and gangsters that were drunken and in downtown Vancouver for the Game 7 loss. Vancouver with thanks to CBC and Rogers Arena were able to create a situation downtown where a hundred thousand people from across the Greater Vancouver area and even around the world had come to watch the game on the big screen tv's set up in the spectator fan plazas. It was at these plaza's where the most extreme actions were carried out in the riots, such as window breaking and cars being flipped and then lit on fire. <br /><br />While Vancouver does have a strong presence of anarchists that have made themselves known in the APEC Summit and the 2010 Olympic Protests, these people have always resorted to non-violent action. The Anarchists goals are to appropriate media attention on their goals by having enormous street rallies to get their points across to citizens. Even at the Vancouver street rallies that anarchists held to protests the olympics taking place on aboriginal land, violent people always showed up. These people were always not supported by the majority of the anarchists there, however the mainstream media was only able to focus on the violence.<br /><br />In the case of the Vancouver hockey riots, there was no important message to be conveyed to the people via the media. Only that Canucks fans were disapointed that their team was unable to show up in the Stanley Cup Finals when they were needed to the most.<br /><br />All in all, I think it is unfair that the Vancouver police has targeted anarchists as having caused the extreme violence. The anarchists would be the last to steal from the Bay and other giant merchandisers, because they do not support the capitalist system and would not be interested in acquiring material possessions for any reason, especially to sell them and make money.<br /><br />It just seems to be the result of drunken Vancouverites and gangster thugs that made their way to Vancouver to watch game 7 of the playoffs because they couldn't miss an event like this. The police are blaming anarchists just because the last major protests that happened were by the anarchists at the olympics. But the extreme level of violence and the lack of meaning behind the protests, does not convince me that anarchists were the ones that caused the riot.<br /><br /><iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PV3CCJkF9bI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />-harkAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05856182091971768687noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509101719802704297.post-9176195994482307662011-06-16T18:13:00.004-07:002011-06-16T19:27:22.913-07:00Statistical Analysis of the Best and Worst Playoff Teams Since 1990The Reason that I chose 1990 as a starting point is because it is a fair way to look across the standings over the past two decades. I have chosen three categories that are a fair assessment of long term playoff success. 1) Playoff Round Wins Since 1990. 2) Years Making the PLayoffs Since 1990. 3) Years Making it past the first round of the playoffs since 1990. <br /><br /><br />Amount of Playoff Round Wins (Since 1990)<br /><br />detroit red wings 30<br />Pittsburgh Penguins 24<br />NJ Devils 20<br />Colorado Avalanche 19<br />dallas stars 17<br />boston Bruins 15<br />chicago blackhawks 14<br />Philadelphia Flyers 13<br />montreal Canadiens 13<br />edmonton oilers 13<br />vancouver canucks 13<br />NY Rangers 12<br />Buffalo Sabres 12<br />toronto maples leafs 10<br />Washington Capitals 9<br />Carolina Hurricanes 9<br />st louis blues 9<br />LA kings 6<br />calgary flames 3<br />New York Islanders 2<br /><br />Years Making the Playoffs (Since 1990)<br /><br /><br />detroit red wings 20<br />NJ Devils 19<br />Pittsburgh Penguins 16<br />boston Bruins 16<br />st louis blues 16<br />Washington Capitals 15<br />montreal Canadiens 15<br />dallas stars 15<br />Buffalo Sabres 14<br />Colorado Avalanche 14<br />vancouver canucks 14<br />Philadelphia Flyers 13<br />NY Rangers 12<br />chicago blackhawks 12<br />LA kings 11<br />toronto maples leafs 11<br />calgary flames 11<br />edmonton oilers 10<br />Hartford Whalers 8<br />New York Islanders 7<br /><br />Years Making it past the First Round of the Playoffs (Since 1990)<br /><br /><br />detroit red wings 14<br />Pittsburgh Penguins 11<br />Washington Capitals 9<br />montreal Canadiens 9<br />Colorado Avalanche 9<br />vancouver canucks 9<br />NY Rangers 8<br />NJ Devils 8<br />boston Bruins 8<br />st louis blues 8<br />dallas stars 8<br />Philadelphia Flyers 7<br />Buffalo Sabres 7<br />toronto maples leafs 7<br />edmonton oilers 6<br />chicago blackhawks 6<br />LA kings 4<br />Carolina Hurricanes 3<br />New York Islanders 1<br />calgary flames 1<br /><br />So What do these statistics mean? Well how many teams are consistently in the top 5 or the bottom 5?<br /><br />Detroit and Pittsburgh both fall into the top 5 in all categories. This makes them playoff dynasties.<br /><br />Calgary and New York Islanders both fall into the bottom 5 in all three categories. This makes them SO Nasty!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05856182091971768687noreply@blogger.com2