J0e Th0rnton

I simply believe with increased pp time Meier will take it to another level. And pavelski is going to drop due to age and injuries and being literally twice as slow as he used to be. I have no doubt he is going to single out heiskanen and klingberg in practice to try to create the same tipping chemistry he had with burns. I just don't think he will be nearly as effective with them. His trajectory prediction from me is 29 goals then 26 goals then 20 and them regretting the last year of his contract. Nyquist was not a good fit. No loss. Donskoi has so much skill but reminds me of samsonov. No finish. We have bottom 6 guys who will effortlessly fill their roles. I also think kane was playing way better before his family tragedy matters derailed it. And I think surgery will give us a healthy karlsson who we saw tear it up midseason. Jones had his first bad season. I won't worry till I see 2 in a row. I lived through the niemi era

Good god man! Has anyone else seen the deterioration of Pavelski's skating but me? Well Doug Wilson has. We were not paying him a dime over 2 years at 5m. And I LOVE the guy. heart, soul, dedication and class he was. But his legs are shot and they have not even been injured. He is amazing at tipping Burns' point shots and will take a beating around the net to score a goal. he has in fact taken many back alley cross check muggings around the net. Too many and its showing in his back the same way it did for Mike Bossy. His decline is imminent. Im trying to think of the last person who left us for Free agency as a veteran who wanted money and term that Doug Wilson regretted losing. And I can't think of one. We just resigned Timo Meier to a deal that pays 4 years at 6 million and STILL gives us 1 more year of RFA at the end of it and he is a better player now. Not equal to Pavs at his best, but pavs is 35 and fading fast and Meier is going exactly how I knew he would as a Mooseheads fan. He has the same drive, work ethic and dedication as Pavelski and more power forward skills. He reminds me of Cam Neely without the fighting the way he just bulldogs through people. People are constantly harping on the sharks for keeping players past their prime and relying on an old core lol. But the core of this team is now a 30 year old Couture and a 27 year old Kane, but on the young superstar side a 25 year old Hertl, and a 22 year old Meier. I suspect 23 year old Labanc will resign a bridge deal as well to become the 3rd young core member. I have high hopes for Gambrell and Sorenson as well. Kane was terribly distracted down the stretch with his wife losing her baby but he still matched his career year. Couture and Hertl centered their own lines and were absolutely dominant when Pavelski was not there injured. Losing Donskoi and Nyquist meant absolutely nothing to us. Neither player played above the 3rd line or made any serious impact. Thornton has basically told the media Wilson can sign whoever he needs to and he will take a min deal if that is all that's left and the running narrative is Marleau is going to do the same because he refused to waive his NMC unless he was going back to SJ or being bought out. Yeah they are old as i am but having a 3rd or 4th line with Thornton/Marleau would still be the best 3rd or 4th line in the NHL.

Bobrovski to Florida E5 hehe

LINE CHANGES FOR DEFENSIVE TEAM: The defensive team will not be permitted a line change when a goalie freezes the puck on any shot from outside the center red line. Similarly, if the actions of a skater of the defensive team cause a stoppage by unintentionally dislodging the net from its moorings, the defensive team will not be permitted to make a line change. In both of these instances, the offensive team will have the choice of which end zone dot the face-off will take place. This new rule is insane. We already have players so tired they can barely stand because of icing. Now if the goalie freezes the puck they are not allowed to line change? This means dead tired players will need to somehow get possession and skate the puck out lol

Nope hertl and meier are untouchable Wilson is a wizard, so let's how how he plays it

Other than the freak achilles injury from being skated on and pulling his groin this year, how is he injury prone He plays 75+ games a year almost ever year lol His groin tear this year is something he should have had surgery on right away instead of trying to play through it and aggravating it. but live and learn

Jones was more the type to have lackluster regular seasons and turn it on in the playoffs until this year. The only reason we made it to game 6 of the finals back vs the Pens and was a wall the other 2 years in the playoffs.

Its nice to look back at this thread years later. I was dead on for some and waaaay off for others. but at least i was right about my boy Meier

oh yeah he had a terrible year. Its amazing we got as far as we did to within a game of the finals with historically bad goaltending. But this is one bad year after 3 solid ones for him. Until he has a year that bad 2 years in a row, i won't worry. He's still light years better than Niemi was even at his worst. if he plays even a fraction better like his 1st two year, we were in the finals

That comment always perplexes me these days. People have been saying the window is closed for the sharks since Thornton and Marleau hit age 33 over 7 years ago. Now one of them plays 4th line Center and the other is in Toronto and people are still acting like they are the team we are built around. We have a team of young fast stars who are below the age of 25. Some middle aged guys 29-34 like Couture, Pavelski, Vlasic and Burns. But the bulk of our scoring is coming from guys age 27 or younger(our 30+ goal scorers are age 34, 27, 25 and 22) and Burns just had a career year scoring over a PPG and is showing no signs of slowing down. Let's see what signings and moves and keeps Wilson makes in the offseason shall we? Karlsson could barely walk in the playoffs and we got to the conference finals by virtue of Burns, Couture, Hertl and Meier playing superstar level and none of them except Burns are over the age of 30

I have not been happy with Braun for the past 2 years. He went from a spectacular defensive Dman to the worst on the ice if not paired with Vlasic. I look at this as getting a 2nd and 3rd for a salary dump

A puck? Eakins was Guilty of a Cross check. Plain and simple. just not 5 minute major worthy cross check. The real damage was done when Stastny interffered with off balance Pavelski and slammed his head into the ice like this. Perhaps not quite so pro wrestling choreographed, but the rest was the same except on ice instead of canvas. . That's where the blood came from. And FYI, the close up's have shown how he got the cut. Stastny's skate as it rakes across his face. So yes a Cross checking major was the wrong call. However he was cross checked, then interfere slammed headfirst concussing him then got a skate ON THE FACE for good measure. that's Major worthy to me even if it was fast paced heat of the moment. Results dictate punishment, otherwise every Suckerpunch in History gets Bertuzzi punishment. The narrative has gotten comical at this point. Even the vegas announcers were saying "He's gonna get something as he basically slammed Pavelski's head into the ice" And then they went "What? that cross check wasn't what hurt him"

The blues actually handed out 4 uncalled headshots that game to unfortunate sharks players That being said, I was sure that goal was getting waved off and it didn;t.

This. Stastny gave Pavelski the hockey equivalent of the rock bottom. It was a slam that bounced his head of the ice and turned the captain to a limp bloody mess. Not the crosscheck

Ref saw the cross-check and then looked back and saw a bloody half out cold mess on the ice. It probably would not have been a major if not for the unfortunate way he landed and went limp. Vegas got away with murder the first 5 games and pavelski often gets back alley mugged. After years of seeing things like stalock get speared and physically pushed into the met with the puck, I am glad to be on the other end of this call for once