J0e Th0rnton

Good to hear positive comments about the guy from someone with first hand viewing experience. From what I've heard he might have to work on controlling his temper a bit better and that he isn't all that persistent on the back check. That is something that can be worked on though, and Detroit seems to be pretty good at helping prospects get better defensively.

Yeah, Frk had a pretty darn good season I must say. The guy has a hell of a shot.

@Dgill

Forgot to ask you, what did you think of Konrad Abeltshauser this season with the Moose?

I forgot he was in the Sharks system and was given a contract this season. I kinda want to see how he does at training camp

General Manager Craig MacTavish announces the #Oilers have agreed to terms with Sam Gagner (@89SGagner) on a 3-year contract.

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers)

July 22, 2013

Hmmm, not sure if I consider him worth that much. your thoughts Oil fans?

Two breakout years in a row... I like the sound of that.

JR

you know, I never noticed how many points he scored this season? I guess it is because it was not a full season, but damn.

@Polaris922

And done!

I actually voted for him in earnest.

Taylor Hall wins 2014! Breakout tear for him in year another non playoff year for the Oil!

Nice one JR.

@Polaris922@JR Ewing

McSorely knew Brashear's unique fighting style would keep him from really landing bombs on him

Brashear's fighting style, while difficult to explain, is fortunately, easy to illustrate

Nathan MacKinnon wasn't a brave pick, he was the right pick and the best pick. MacKinnon has proven when given the proper opportunity his game elevates beyond others. Their defense was and still is terrible, but Carolina, Florida, Tampa Bay and Calgary were just as equally bad, if not worse. Tampa Bay and Florida each passed on Jones as well, two teams with more goals against then Colorado. You think one of those teams would have selected Jones for the "immediate" help he would provide, no?

Roy has already stated that MacKinnon will be centering the third line with Jamie McGinn and Steve Downie. MacKinnon playing anywheres but center is a complete waste of his skill and speed that he provides. O'Reilly will likely be centering the second line as Stastny will be shipped/has lost centering duties due to more talented players in the system.

Figured you were stoked to have him. great run for the moose

I liked Drouin a bit more, but Mack was solid and skates like the wind.

The Wings seem to have an obsession with clearing a roster spot to resign Cleary, I have been hoping we sign Murray instead because we need another Swede....

If you need a PK specialist. At ES, Murray's Skating is league worst and guys use him for Pylon practice.

He is a recipe for swedish meatballs and pain meds in front of the net and in the corners though.

Ahhh Doug Murray. I have to say I loved the guy. he could throw monsterous hits and nobody ever wanted to fight him because he killed anyone. Even heavyweights. The guy is a physical tank. He murders people in front of the net and in the corners.

Unfortunately, that tank has some terrible speed and maneuverability. Pk Specialist, or bottom 6/7

Speaking of Dirty, this is for you

RIP Floormaster. But it was a fun time!

Cleghorn really could become unhitched out there. He was the personification of mayhem. In 1923, he had to be sneaked into the Aberdeen Pavillion in Ottawa because the fans wanted to tear him apar physically. What did he do? Got into the building, skated out to centre, and thumbed his nose at the crowd. lol

What's easy to lose sight of was that he was a truly great player, aside from all of the violence (remembering that it was also an extremely violent era of hockey; worse than anything ANY of us have seen). He had Norris quality seasons in 1913, 1915, 1917, 1920 and 1925. He was the bridge to Eddie Shore, the other classic combination of brilliance and brutality on defense.

Even wrapped up his career on the same team, if you can imagine them on the same blueline.

JR

heh. yeah I know a good deal about Shore since he was a Bruin

This is Sprague Cleghorn. He was a magnificent puck rushing defenseman. His violent and psychopathic on-ice tendencies are legendary, especially after he was traded from Ottawa to Montreal. He made it his life's goal to make their lives a misery. He broke his leg prior to the 1918 season, and ended up being arrested after assaulting his wife with his crutches. In 1923, he went after the Sens' Lionel Hitchman and bashed his face so badly that he nearly incited a riot. For that one, Cleghorn was fined $200... By his own team. The next year he followed that up by going after Hitchman again, butt-ending him in the eye, and later took out Buck Boucher's knees. One time he beat the hell out of Newsy LaLonde (a tough guy himself) so badly, and continued to pummel LaLonde after he was out cold and lying on the ice, almost causing another riot. His career was dotted by cross-checks to the head and face, spearings, kneeings, butt-ends, running opponent's faces into the boards, as well as administering some of the worst beatings in the league, which is saying something for hockey in the 1920s. Along the way, Cleghorn may have even purposely cut Boucher's face with his skates.

Oh. And:

JR

Holy crap! Ill admit, I know little of Hockey beyond the 70's forward. This guy sounds like a maniac

Bah. I would have taken him

No Cap space though

Tretiak deserves mention for sure. He's the one Russian player ever who gets standing ovations across Canada any time he shows his face. And he earned every bit of that respect.

I dunno. Kharlamov also got the standing O when he was alive

Remember the night Domi punched Ulfie? I thought that was hilarious.

It is one of the only times I have seen in the NHL where a cheapshot was talked about like it was deserved. Some of the players suggested giving Domi a bonus cheque lol.

@JR Ewing I dunno about you guys, but one thing I really can't stand is a dirty goalie...a dirty player is one thing but when a goalie dirtily raps a player on the back of the knees, etc..I instantly lose all respect for him...a la Billy Smith, Tim Thomas, Mike Vernon...those 3 off the top of my head...if my memory serves me right, also Mike Smith?

Then there was, Ron Hextall. ahah. Who was more Wild animal than goalie.

I hate to say it, but I lived in St. Louis in the late '90s. Couldn't remember who got with who's wife (and I do not want to slander anyone), but I had people who knew the players personally refer to it as accepted fact, and the reason one player got traded out of town. I'm thinking it was a couple of Hall-Of-Famers, actually; I can't remember, but no one questioned that it happened.

That would be Shanahan with Janney's wife. It is not a rumor, but accepted fact.

Mostly because she divorced Janney and Married Shanahan in short order.

The other 100% true one if not really between players. But Martin Brodeur.....err...let's just say his in law's were already his in law's when he married a second time. Those have to be the most awkward family dinners ever.

Ulf Samuelsson was the first person that came to mind. I'm not sure whether it's a good answer, but it was the first that came to mind when I saw "dirty player."

Actually liked the guy, though.

Thank you. Ill never forgive that man for his hit on Neely.

@J0e Th0rnton Marcel Dionne, not dynamic?? Someone was feeding you bad info. That guy lifted people out of their seats. Almost a ppg in the playoffs is a very respectable number.

Only 3 players ever scored at a rate of 1.5 pts per game in the playoffs, and 2 of the 3 are named Wayne and Mario. Guys that didn't put up a pt per game in the playoffs....Steve Yzerman, Stan Mikata, Rocket Richard among many others...yet they are considered all time greats. Marcel gets a bad rap all the time. Sure they those guys had cups to show for their efforts, but also had great supporting casts. 0.91 pts per playoff game puts in and around the top 60 of all time, not shabby for a guy with little to no defense on his team and no secondary scoring to take the heat off him. He played with dogged determination, did everything humanly possible to help his team advance.

Certainly if you look at career numbers. However, many many great players have kept their season average points per game close to their playoff average(Looking merely at their prime years).

The guys you mentioned all played in the low scoring periods of hockey(Half of Yzerman's career was DPE, and he has a very good playoff PPG in the 80's)). Marcel played in the, well, highest scoring times ever. His drop in numbers compared to his regular seasons were astronomical. Yzerman did get comparisons to Dionne before he won finally the big one of course. Much like Joe Thornton does now.

Dionne was one of the most underrated superstars...ever. He's still solidly in the top 5 of all time for pts, and the playoff series, I don't blame him one bit. For the most part, the Kings secondary scoring was horrid. He had a solid 45 pts in 49 playoff games ya know.

Dionne scored at a rate of 1.50 points per game on average in the regular season, and yet dropped off to 0.91 in the playoffs.

that is a huuuuuge drop in personal production.

Granted I did not see a lot of him, but the Kings fans I know told me his game was simply, well, predictable, and not dynamic. And they accused him of disappearing, being shut down and only scoring points in games when they were losing 6-1 already. When Kings fans tell me Joe Thornton looks outstanding in the playoffs in comparison......I have to believe Dionne was pretty subpar at crunch time.

Granted NOBODY could have lead those teams to cups. All I am saying is that his personal production suffered at a time when he was supposed to be elevating his game. He was the #1 target for shutdown in the regular season as well.

Ouch.

I am pretty sure Marcel Dionne is the only man in the hall of fame who never won a best of 7 playoff series.

It's not only that, but I've seen this precise set of posts from a guy who went around to a bunch of forums at the same time, all so he could bait people with an argument over GWG, and he could "expose" their "lack of logic", when all they were doing was explaining the league's logic to him. He wasn't interested in discussion or debate. He was interested in looking down on people.

He was, in short, an ass.

I don't know if this is the same guy, but if he is..............

JR

Mushroom Cloud?

@Hockey Junkie I would venture to guess that the other Sabre fans on here don't share your opinion. Niether does a fan of any other team. Either you're right, or millions and millions are wrong. Not trying to be rude, but the claim that Miller is the best goalie is laughable. Cheering for your team is one thing, but making claims like that...if it was not me, somebody else would be calling BS. I'm not even gonna look up the stats, don't have to, I know Miller has been very, very average for years now...not just last years injury situation as you claim. Lot's of goalies get shelled on a nightly basis and still maintain a respectable save percentage.

Miller had a standout year or two. but he is far from the best goalie now.

I'm kind of on board with this.

On the other hand, I still don't like interleague play in baseball and miss the days when the leagues in MLB were completely separate. With Centre Ice packages and the like, it's not like the old days when you could go only see Marcel Dionne once or maybe twice a year because games weren't televised and you had to wait to see them live or when they happened to play your team.

I think I might be okay with east playing east exclusively and west playing west exclusively. I think it would be unfortunate, though, for teams like Chicago and Detroit who do have history against each other to suddenly be entirely segregated from one another.

As you can tell, I could probably argue this either way and still help whomever I'm arguing against.

Marcel Dionne makes Joe Thornton look like a Conn Smythe winner