EDI-Flyer

Well said Doom... very well said and I agree.  

 

8 more years at 8M - yikes!   I love Giroux but I just dont see him as a 8M player... he is not in the Crosby/Malkin category as much as it hurts to say it.

It might look pricey now but in three or four years when the cap goes up that 8 mill will look cheap... Welcome to the new NHL. 

Yeah, I'd kinda seen that from TripAdvisor on the hotel front. Will certainly keep you posted.

Paddy Roy has them playing with an attitude, I cannot stress enough Steve Downie is a presense for them, a Milan Lucic lite as it were. If it weren't for his injury early in the season last year the club would have had a bit of swagger. Having him healthy allows a bit more space and confidence for the kid forwards to move and grow.

Downie has always had it in him IMO, he has certainly matured over the last few years. As long as he avoids the dumb suspensions he will be a force for them. I remember one of the scouting reports on him prior to the draft quoting a scout as saying "you win with guys like this on your team, with his grit he belongs in the W(HL)"

@EDI-Flyer

 

I enjoy watching them also EDI, they are skilled and fast.

 

I think in addition to what Yave said above Landeskog was also injured and O'Reilly held out on his contract.  Adding the talent of MacKinnon sure helps also.

Definitely those are all factors but for me I think the addition of Roy has been the key differentiator. His experience of working in the Q with young kids seems to translate well to a young team and he seems to have imbued them with confidence above all else, as well as the attitude that Yave mentioned.

Well, here we are four games into the season and the Aves sit at 4-0, joint top of the West with San Jose. Moreover, whilst they have been more or less as billed on the offensive front, the real surprise so far has come on the blue line. 

Thus far they have conceded three goals in those four games, three of which have come against pretty good offensive teams (Toronto, Boston and Anaheim). Indeed they pitched a shutout against Boston last night with Giguere stoning all attempts by Boston. 

While I don't think they will remain atop the standings for the rest of the season I think they could well make the play offs if they continue to buy into Patrick Roy's game plan.

Any way you cut it they are a very entertaining team to watch and I will certainly be making the effort to watch a fair few of their games.

Vancouver Giants traded a conditional 2nd round pick to the Saskatoon Blades for Dalton Thrower. The condition was that they would receive the pick if Thrower was returned to junior hockey. Well, he has been, and as a result is a Vancouver Giant. Moreover he has been named captain of a still relatively young and inexperienced squad. 

Overall a pretty good move to provide veteran leadership and a solid presence on the blue line. 

This from Vancouvergiants.com

Dalton Thrower is back, and he might just be exactly what the Western Hockey League's Vancouver Giants need.

The 19 year-old defenceman, who spent the last four seasons with the Saskatoon Blades, had an opportunity to be a part of the 2013 Memorial Cup Tournament as Saskatoon was the host city.

It didn't go the way the Blades had planned.

Saskatoon (44-22-2-4) finished second in the Eastern Conference during the regular season, but when it came to the playoffs, the pressure seemed to be too much.

The Blades were matched up against the seventh-place Medicine Hat Tigers in the quarterfinals.

The Tigers swept the Blades, winning all four games in the series and advancing to the semifinals. Saskatoon was eliminated from the playoffs.

Most people in the hockey world were shocked. Eyebrows were raised and questions were asked.

What happened? How could a team that was given an opportunity to host the Memorial Cup Tournament fail to get past the first round of the playoffs? Are the Blades a legitimate contender?

There was one positive going for the Blades - when a team is the host city, they get an automatic berth into the tournament.

The Blades had a second chance, and had 51 days to figure out what went wrong. But even that didn't help.

Saskatoon finished the round robin with a 1-1 record, and needed to defeat the Ontario Hockey League's London Kings in a tiebreaker game in order to remain in the tournament.

The Knights defeated the Blades 6-1, and London advanced to the semifinal.

The Blades, however, had to pack their bags and go home. Their season was over.

“[The teams we faced] were able to find our weaknesses and they capitalized,” Thrower confessed. “We weren't ready to play against those teams and it hurt us.”

Changes to the team were on its way.

“When we had our exit meetings with Lorne Molleken, the General Manger, and the coaching staff, they told me my rights were traded to Vancouver if things didn't work out with Montreal,” he said. “I was very happy, being able to have a chance to play at home if things didn't work out.”

Thrower was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2012 National Hockey League Draft.

The deal between Saksatoon and Vancouver was officially announced on May 27, just one day after the conclusion of the Memorial Cup Tournament. But it was revealed that the trade was actually done at the 2013 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft on May 2.

In exchange, the Giants gave up a conditional second-round pick in the 2014 WHL Bantam Draft. The condition was that if Thrower returned to play for Vancouver for his 20 year-old season, Saskatoon would receive the pick.

“I had talked to Mooner [Lorne Molleken, the Blades' general manager] at the draft,” Scott Bonner, the Giants' General Manager, said at the time. “In Dalton's case, his goal is to play in the pros and he may not play for us next season. But we thought that with Montreal having six or seven defencemen coming back to the AHL, we had a decent opportunity of getting him.”

Following the trade, Vancouver had four overagers: forwards Marek Tvrdon, Riley Kieser, Cain Franson and of course, Thrower, the newly acquired defenceman.

Kieser was the odd-man out, as he was moved to his hometown team, the Edmonton Oil Kings, in exchange for a sixth-round pick in the 2014 Bantam Draft.

“There is a decent chance that we'll have Marek back,” Bonner stated after the trade. We thought that it wasn't fair for him to come to camp knowing that there is a chance that will have guys coming back from pro teams.”

But in junior hockey, changes happen quick. The Giants added forward Tim Traber off waivers prior to their training camp opener, and were back at four overagers.

After the conclusion of the Giants' pre-season, Traber and Franson returned to Vancouver, while Tvrdon and Thrower had not.

“In Marek's case, he is a signed player with a salary cap contract and will be given every opportunity to turn pro,” Bonner explained.

We're assuming that he is not coming back. We think it is the best way to handle it. Obviously, if they decide to send assign him back to us, we'd have a decision to make,” he added.

But on Sept. 29, at around 10:30 PST, the Giants were going to have another 20-year-old back. There was word that Thrower had been re-assigned back to junior by the Hamilton Bulldogs.

It was after the Bulldogs lost to the Toronto Marlies 2-1 in a pre-season game. Hamilton head coach Sylvain Lefebvre called a meeting with him along with a few others.

What was going on?

“We're sending you back to junior,” Lefebvre told Thrower. “You're still a young player and being back in Vancouver is probably best for your career and development.

Thrower agreed.

“Obviously there was mixed emotions. You never like being cut from a team,” he admitted. “But I'm very excited to play in front of family and friends every time [we play at home] so it's a great opportunity for me.”

It was officially announced in the morning.

“We were pumped to have Dalton back. We chased Lorne Molleken for his rights, and getting him back is a big break for us because not only do we get a high-end player, he has leadership abilities that not only help us this season but the seasons beyond," said Bonner.

Speaking of leadership abilities, the Giants also named Thrower the 13th captain in franchise history.

“There is no pressure,” Thrower said. “I feel very comfortable with the guys in the locker room and the coaching staff. I'm very excited for this opportunity because this isn't just for me, but my family and friends because we watched the Giants growing up.”

It is Thrower's first time of being a team captain in the WHL, so has he spoken to anybody for any advice?

“No, not yet,” he said. “I'm going to ask around, and I want to lead the team in the right direction,” he added.

The Giants have had some early struggles, but Thrower looks to upcoming six-game round trip to turn things around.

“We're going to a big road trip,” he stated. “This is going to be a great bonding time for our team. We have some new guys so it gives me a chance to get to know all the guys. Good teams have great chemistry so we're lucky that we have [a road trip] early in the season.”

 

During the regular season, if 60 minutes end in a tie, then it's a tie.  It's not fair that games are decided in OT by guys who didn't get their job done during regulation, while the third line workers who earned the tie are relegated to sideline watchers.  

 

In the playoffs, when ties have to be resolved, play OTs until someone scores.  No shootouts, no 4 on 4's, no gimmicks.  Hockey games should be decided by hockey teams.

Old school, and I like it...!!! 

Do take notice of the crowd noise level

Again, I don't think they are cheering because there is a shootout. They aren't going "yay, we have a shootout", more they are cheering for their respective teams and trying to put the other team off.

Secondly, international crowds are usually far more lively than any crowd you will see in the NHL...

@Samifan

Thanks for the update!

Still not certain of my plans but would love to take in a game if possible. I enjoy watching junior hockey in Canada and it sounds like the same kind of set up, lot more reasonable prices and a chance to see the stars of tomorrow in action. 

People need to show Snider more respect around these parts - it's disgraceful.

 

Loyal, commited, smart, passionate, proven and genuine - what do you people want an MBA/business first approach moron like the one we have that owns the Sixers/Devils?

 

He's not running a damn business, he's looking out for his guys and is passionate about winning first above all else.

 

I'll take Ed Snider 10x over.

 

Wise up people. 

Ed? Is that you???

  The shoot out is blasphemy, get it out and never let it back in. Just another reason to hate Gary and his basketball line of thinking!!

 

  Never thought I'd type this decades ago, but I MISS TIES. It was a decent outcome. At least the team was involved. Not this glory hounding individualistic charade called the shoot out. God I HATE what our game has evolved into!!!

+1 on all the above points...

Sorry hf but on this I couldn't disagree with you more.

Shootouts are necessary to end games in a timely fashion for Television.  That need will not change. 

Horsecrap! They play OT now, don't they? Just play 5 minutes of OT and if it is a tie then so be it!

Ties suck.  Teams play to just earn a point and call it a game.

That is their prerogative... and when they miss the playoffs by 1 point then doubtless they will regret it. But I have seen plenty of games where both sides have played well and didn't deserve to lose. The need for a winner and loser is a very North American trait IMO, the rest of the world seems to get along just fine with ties in their sports...

Fans cheer at games for goals, fights and shootouts.

While they may cheer during shootouts, I don't see fans cheering because there is a shootout. That is my experience anyway, YMMV.

The shootout isn't going anywhere, imo

Sadly, I fear you are correct on this.
 

Indeed he has looked good, Howie, light's out so far.

@activestick

Because the man is living in the past with no concept of how the organisation needs to change to be successful. Never a patient guy at the best of times but now as he approaches the end of his time on earth his short term-ism is killing the franchise. There are many other reasons but I don't have the time to fit them into one post!

I don't doubt his commitment to winning, just his ability to contribute to that happening in any meaningful way. 

@ruxpin

I do think you have forgotten one of the more basic actions needed... Announce on TSN and NBC that ALL players are available for trade, and indeed that we don't necessarily seek value in return (See Sharp, P and Bobrovsky, S)

@Spider-Man NL

Like what you've done for the preview there, nice mix of stats and photos.

@Samifan

Just wondered if you did go to the game you were talking about above? 

May be in upstate New York in February and in a position to take in a game. Just wondered what your overall impressions were.

Thanks

Gabriel Landeskog sat out Friday night's 3-1 win over the Nashville Predators with what is reported to be a leg injury.

Per SBNation Patrick Roy believes he will be available to travel with the Avalanche on their road trip next week. While they seemed to manage okay without him against Nashville you better believe the Av's would like to have their captain back and fit as soon as possible.

http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/2013/10/4/4803400/gabriel-landeskog-injury-avalanche

So, following in the footsteps of Bobby Ryan and Mikhail Grabovski, Clarke McArthur shares that he too wouldn't piss on Randy Carlyle if he was on fire. Okay, he doesn't actually say that, he actually says that he wouldn't speak to him if he passed him in the hallway. 

It all seems to be going well for Randy at the moment in TO but long term you have to wonder what his shelf life is before the players start to tune him out. Just hypothesizing here, but suppose you get Kessel, Clarkson, Lupul, Bozak and Reemer (all players on long term contracts) and they essentially stop playing for Carlyle. You can pretty much guarantee in this situation that the coach is the one leaving, not the players. Does Randy Carlyle need to re-evaluate his approach to players? I would say that if he wants a longer term future in the NHL that yes he needs to, and be open to change. 

The day of Mike Keenan has passed...

Full article can be found here: http://www.senatorsextra.com/main/macarthur-rips-former-coach-carlyle

Bobby Ryan was slightly more subtle about it.

 

But he and Clarke MacArthur agree on one thing – they wouldn’t say hello to their former head coach, Randy Carlyle, if they passed him in the hallway. “No,” MacArthur said from the visitors dressing room at the Air Canada Centre Saturday. “I’m going to go with no on that one.”

 

MacArthur, of course, played for Carlyle with the Maple Leafs last season, while Ryan had the hardline coach in Anaheim, where Carlyle directed his Ducks team to a 2007 Stanley Cup win over the Ottawa Senators. Both know the feeling of being benched, and made a healthy scratch.

 

Ryan and MacArthur are both Senators now, and surely have swapped some interesting stories about playing for no-nonsense Randy. Ryan and MacArthur were both facing their former coach for the first time in a regular season game as the Battle of Ontario, 2013 version, resumed Saturday. “I didn’t have a relationship with him, and not many guys do,” MacArthur said, of Carlyle. “He runs the show there, and everyone knows that, and that’s the way it is,” MacArthur added. “It’s worked for him in the past, he’s got a Cup from that, but at the same time there’s other ways to do things, too.”

 

A seven-year pro, MacArthur has been with four NHL clubs – Buffalo, Atlanta, Toronto and now Ottawa – but has never had a tougher coach than Carlyle, “not to that extent,” MacArthur says. Carlyle might take pride in administering tough love, but there isn’t a lot of player love going back his way. “Some guys are good with it. Some guys are good with the criticism, but they don’t want to hear it every single shift they come off the ice,” MacArthur says. “You’re old enough to know ‘I made a mistake,’ you don’t need to hear it every five seconds.”

“It weighs differently on different people, it was just — some long days.”

 

Nobody called out Carlyle than former Leaf Mikhail Grabovski, on his way out the door this summer after five seasons in Toronto.

 

“I play in the [expletive] Russian KHL, I make lots of [expletive] points and what’s going to happen? He make me [expletive] play on the fourth line and he put me in the playoffs on the fourth line and third line again,” Grabovski told TSN.ca. “Yeah, I don’t score goals. I need to work more about that. I know that. But if you feel support from your coach [you'll find success]. I don’t feel any support from this [expletive] idiot.”

 

“He said it all right there,” MacArthur says. “He certainly didn’t have a tight lip about it. That was something to see. He was frustrated. He was a guy who had 30 goals and two years of 55 or whatever points (58 and 51) and Randy came in, it just didn’t work out, he turned him into a checker. “Look at him now, four points in his first game, three goals. Who was right there? I know who’s right.”

 

After two games with the Washington Capitals, Grabovski has five points.

 

MacArthur knew he was gone from the Leafs long before his final game in Toronto. The stylish winger was livid over being made a healthy scratch for Games 2 and 3 of the Eastern Quarterfinal playoff series against the Boston Bruins last spring. MacArthur still managed to score two goals and an assist in the series. “It was tough the way it ended,” he says. “Getting scratched in the playoffs, that was it for me. I came back and scored some goals, did what I could for the team, but I was done here after that. The game of hockey – I wasn’t excited coming in any more. It was time to move on.” 

 

Signing with divisional-rival Ottawa wasn’t based on a revenge motive, MacArthur says. But no one would be happier to score against the Leafs.

 

Say hello, to a revamped Battle of Ontario.

 

So it's two games in to the season but already Nathan MacKinnon is looking like the real deal and a worthy no 1 overall pick. 

He had 2 assists in the his first game (a 6-1 blowout of the Anaheim Ducks), the first of which was a lovely backhanded no look  pass from behind the net to Jamie McGinn.

The second, whilst not quite as pretty, was still a nice move.

http://youtu.be/M_d1ej0nGJQ

Having watched a replay of the 1st game and highlights of the 2nd (where he also had 1 assist) I thought his hockey IQ shone through brightly with his vision and overall head up play.

He looked very fast to me, cutting past several d-men like they just weren't there (albeit the first game was against the Ducks, whose defensive issues are such that they are allegedly looking towards the Flyers for help  ). 

From what I can see the only area of real weakness is his face-off skill (18.2% through 2 games according to NHL.com) which is something that should improve with a little more experience. 

Win or lose, the Avalanche are going to be a fun team to watch this year - the offensive style of Roy and his passion for the game + a juiced up offence should make for some interesting hockey. If MacKinnon stays on his line I reckon Jamie McGinn would be a pretty good sleeper fantasy pick (albeit my fantasy hockey history is not the strongest  ).

Per Frank Seravalli -

Flyers announce they've sent Scott Laughton back to OHL Oshawa without playing a game. Kris Newbury is recalled from AHL to be 13th forward.

What the heck was the point in keeping him in the first place then? Presumably cap related...

The Philadelphia Flyers could be just about anything this year. They’ve gone from a promising team on the rise that went to the Cup final in the Jeff Carter-Mike Richards era to one of the most convoluted collection of players in the NHL.

For instance, it’s intriguing to think of what Vincent Lecavalier could bring to this club. He’s not the 108-point scorer he was in 2006-07 and never will be again. He has had point per game averages of .85, .83, .77 and .82 the past four years, which isn’t bad, unless you’re getting paid $10 million and costing $7.7 million against the cap.

He looked good in his first game as a Flyer and created the team’s first goal of the season off a beautiful assist.

The problem is that Lecavalier hasn’t been healthy for a full season since 2009-10. He’s missed 17, 18 and nine games the past three seasons, but that didn’t stop the Flyers from signing him up for a five-year term. Because the Flyers sign everybody.

Another example is Steve Mason, former Calder winner-turned Columbus castoff.  His numbers have hovered around the .900 SP for four years and the Flyers defense is much worse than the Blue Jackets’, who’ve only ever made the post-season once.

There’s also Ray Emery, who will surely get the second start in net for Philadelphia. He was 17-1 for the Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks last season, but only won 15 of his 28 decisions with a .900 SP in Chicago the year before. Who knows what the Flyers will get from him?

Jakub Voracek had a career season over 48 games, while Scott Hartnell, at 31, either had a down year, or started to show some age. What is Brayden Schenn? The only constants on the team seem to be Claude Giroux’s brilliance and the blueline’s unsteady makeup.

Hovering over all of this is Peter Laviolette’s future. The race to first coach fired in Philadelphia this fall is on between him and Chip Kelly of the NFL’s Eagles.

If their first game of the season is any indication – a 3-1 loss to Toronto – this could be another messy year. We’re not about to write them off after one game, but when a fresh team is as flat as the Flyers were at home against a tired Maple Leafs squad, there has to be some “uh-oh” feeling inside.

The major, questionable overhaul of the roster two years ago is still having a very negative effect, while the former core moved on to win the Cup they couldn’t in orange and black. The Kings had patience and struck, while the Flyers’ impatience set them back a few years – and maybe more than a few.

What are the Flyers, you ask?

Who knows – but they’re off on the wrong foot.

I do agree with the general premise of the article - that no one knows what we are going to get this season. Whilst many familiar flaws were on display (zone entry, lack of cohesion between D and the forwards to name but two) I take issue with his statement that the Flyers came out flat. The first half of the game they were flying, swarming the Leafs and restricting their opportunities. I couldn't really fault the effort either.

I also thought Mason played a strong game and VLC showed enough to suggest that he could really help the second line guys.

I would also say that I agree with his point that "there has to be some “uh-oh” feeling inside", although maybe that's just my inner Chicken Little coming to the fore...

Here is a few reasons why.
 
During the 80's when teams like the Islanders and Oilers dominated everybody the game was so much more focused on offense than it is today. Teams like New York and Edmonton who had completely stacked offensive lines took control because that's how the game was played. The team with the best offense was usually going to win, defense wasn't exactly prioritized and goaltending wasn't as perfected into an art as it is today. The game was just played so much more different then than it was now. On top of all of that, there are more teams in the NHL than there were in the 80's and 70's. The game now is much more perfected and the gap between putting emphasis on Offense vs. Defense vs. Goaltending is much, much narrower today than it use to be.

I would say that the salary cap also plays a large part in this... Good teams that win can't afford to keep all their players. How many teams have you seen the last few years that won and then lost key members of their squad to FA or trades? Chicago managed to keep their core intact but lost Ladd, Byfuglien and later Campbell to name but three. The 09 Pens lost Rob Scuderi.

In addition to this the sheer volume of hockey that is played now takes it's toll. Back in the 70's and 80's training was far less punishing than it is today and that also has an impact.

Personally, I think the Blackhawks have a decent chance at a repeat but I wouldn't go as far as to say it's already in the bag like some people have said.

Agreed.

Flames are lacking talent just about everywhere

Yep, hence my comment about him getting plenty of ice time... Not like they need to relegate him to the fourth line with 6 minutes a game...

@flyercanuck

The rationale for the Domi suspension according to the OHL
 
Blow to the head
Left feet
Injury on play
 
4 games
 
And yet Owen Sound's Stefano Pezzetta gets suspended 8 games for this hit against Barrie 

http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/video/index/id/da81a5a2770c30ec7a4049237fafee74

citing 

Player in danger zone

Not in possession of puck

Unsuspecting player

Check from behind

Injury on play

IMO points 2,3 and 5 apply to Domi as well. I mean in the normal scheme of things you don't expect a player to physically launch himself at you elbow first when you don't have possession of the puck...

Inconsistent would seem to be a charitable description!

@EDI-Flyer

 

Couldn't agree with your post anymore. Branch won't even come to games in Barrie. The suspensions he handed out last year against the Colts (and the suspensions he didn't hand out to his sons team during a 7 game series against Barrie) were an absolute joke.

 

 All this because Barrie got up to leave during his speech at the Memorial Cup tournament to meet their curfew. (and management told Branch about it prior)

I didn't see much of the Belleville series so I'll take your word for it. But for a guy who has handed out what can only be described as draconian punishments elsewhere he sure seems to be looking at this case with rose tinted spectacles. Or should that be green black and gold tinted spectacles...?