Around the NHL - Episode XXXX

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HavlatMach9

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Mar 17, 2011
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Do we draft before Carolina among the Sharks/Leafs 1st round draft picks? I think we'll probably draft first.
 

JD1

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SJS aiming for 12th win in 14 games
Washington Capitals - San Jose Sharks - December 3rd, 2019
Talk about a turn around

It was kinda more talk about a very generous easy home schedule in November. SJ is in trouble. They lost last night and currently sit out. They had a very favorable November schedule with home games and weaker opposition. Credit them for getting themselves back in the picture but it is early December and they are outside the cut. Their easiest schedule month is gone. If they make it, they'll do it the hard way
 

Micklebot

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Apr 27, 2010
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It was kinda more talk about a very generous easy home schedule in November. SJ is in trouble. They lost last night and currently sit out. They had a very favorable November schedule with home games and weaker opposition. Credit them for getting themselves back in the picture but it is early December and they are outside the cut. Their easiest schedule month is gone. If they make it, they'll do it the hard way

Hope you are right. They seem to have the talent, albeit aging, but might need a coaching change to get the most out of them. I think a key injury would sink them though that is if their goaltending hasn't already.
 

L'Aveuglette

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SJ is going to have to fight hard with Nashville, Calgary, Dallas, Minny and Vancouver for a wildcard spot, and I'm not sure they have what it takes to win that battle.
 

Mark Effin Stone

I miss Kuba
May 10, 2010
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Mark Stone is -4 :eek:

KindheartedNervousCornsnake-size_restricted.gif


Bad player assesment stat aside, anyone watch any Vegas games.. what's the story? o_O
 
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stempniaksen

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Oct 12, 2008
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A goal and an assist for Turris last night in his first game back in the lineup. Seems like those trying to bury the guy may have been slightly premature.

Still think there's more than meets the eye in regards to Turris/Laviolette, but maybe KT can play well enough from here on out that it won't matter.
 

BonkTastic

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A goal and an assist for Turris last night in his first game back in the lineup. Seems like those trying to bury the guy may have been slightly premature.

Still think there's more than meets the eye in regards to Turris/Laviolette, but maybe KT can play well enough from here on out that it won't matter.

And by all accounts, he looked like he deserved to play 18mins/game last night. I still have a hard time believing that one or two people around here were/are trying to compare him to Boedker. I mean, everyone's entitled to their opinion, but...

Also: I'm 100% convinced that there's something going on between Laviolette and Turris. There's as no reason Turris should ever be healthy scratched. He's too good a player for that. Is he worth $6mil/year? Certainly not. But there's a VAST divide between "worth $6mil" and "healthy scratched despite being on pace for a ~50 point season (over the full 82 games). There are lots of rumours in Nashville that Turris ended up in the doghouse because they tried to shift him to the wing in training camp and Laviolette didn't like the fact that it wasn't working... I dunno. The whole thing sounds like there's WAY more to it than simply healthy-scratching a guy because he's not good enough to play.

I'm also like... 75% convinced that Laviolette has lost that room. That team is way too good to be losing some of the games they've been short on. Pekka Rinne and the blueline seem to have randomly just fallen apart for no good reason. The breakdowns that team makes in their own zone lately have been Senators-esque (referring to last year's Sens, here).
 
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BonkTastic

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SJ is going to have to fight hard with Nashville, Calgary, Dallas, Minny and Vancouver for a wildcard spot, and I'm not sure they have what it takes to win that battle.

If I had to bet, I'd say Dallas and Minnesota end up on the outside looking in. Don't like either team's build.

Vancouver, I have no idea what this team will look like come February. Didn't think they were a playoff team this year, still doubt them, but with young teams, sometimes one or two guys will make huge leaps in development / understanding of the league, and everything changes on a dime.

Calgary should be better than they are, but I have no clue how that team might react to potentially 3 coaches in one year. They could bounce back huge, or slink into the shadows.

Nashville is easily the best team in this group on paper, but as I've said before - I worry that Laviolette may have lost the room there, and double-worry that Poile won't do anything about it until it's become too far gone.

Sharks can still go through another Jones-slump, and lose 5 of 6 and find themselves far back... Or they could keep winning. Don't like the coach, but he saved his job with the recent streak.

The whole group of teams have some pretty big question marks, if you ask me.
 
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Qward

Because! That's why!
Jul 23, 2010
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If I had to bet, I'd say Dallas and Minnesota end up on the outside looking in. Don't like either team's build.

Vancouver, I have no idea what this team will look like come February. Didn't think they were a playoff team this year, still doubt them, but with young teams, sometimes one or two guys will make huge leaps in development / understanding of the league, and everything changes on a dime.

Calgary should be better than they are, but I have no clue how that team might react to potentially 3 coaches in one year. They could bounce back huge, or slink into the shadows.

Nashville is easily the best team in this group on paper, but as I've said before - I worry that Laviolette may have lost the room there, and double-worry that Poile won't do anything about it until it's become too far gone.

Sharks can still go through another Jones-slump, and lose 5 of 6 and find themselves far back... Or they could keep winning. Don't like the coach, but he saved his job with the recent streak.

The whole group of teams have some pretty big question marks, if you ask me.

I dont know, both goalies are playing really well in Dallas right now.
 

BonkTastic

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I dont know, both goalies are playing really well in Dallas right now.

I think they'll need to keep playing well all year if they want to make it in, too. Bishop is their best player. He's playing great. Khudobin, too.

It's not the goaltending I'm worried about in Dallas. It's the rest of the roster... the forwards especially - most of them look like they either can't (for example, Perry) or won't (example: Radulov) find another gear. It's Seguin and 11 assorted parts that don't seem to fit together.
 

stempniaksen

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Oct 12, 2008
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I dont know, both goalies are playing really well in Dallas right now.

They've scored the 5th least goals in the West and the 9th least overall. It's obviously (at least partially) due to Montgomery's system, but that's a team who has issues with their top guys and a severe lack of offensive depth behind them. They are just as flawed as the other tams brought up, but in a much different way.

That being said, I think they still end up making the playoffs out of the teams listed and that San Jose will end up having to stave off the teams in the Pacific (on that note, what a weird division).
 

Que

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I'm also like... 75% convinced that Laviolette has lost that room. That team is way too good to be losing some of the games they've been short on. Pekka Rinne and the blueline seem to have randomly just fallen apart for no good reason. The breakdowns that team makes in their own zone lately have been Senators-esque (referring to last year's Sens, here).

Random tangent.

I wonder if we’re going to see more coaches get fired or resign over the next few years, or if the NHL will naturally weed them out. Laviolette has that Carolina connection after all.

It’s also made me wonder about something else;

Somone posted on the boards how exceptionally weak the last decade’s drafts have been when producing both winners and HOF caliber players. How much of that is related to coaching not evolving as fast as the kids did?

Was the talent there and it wasn’t managed properly or is it just correlated result of a drop off in youth sports? (Less % of the GP playing hockey)
 

Ice-Tray

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Could also be more difficult to be ‘generational’ when the entire floor of hockey talent has risen substantially.

Hard to dominate stiffer competition. Easier to skate around pilons and score on miniature goalies.
 
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