Around the NHL Thread - Found the Missing #16

[Rubi]

 

[2023FriendshipTour]

Well, the Oilers are back to normal, but the Canucks keep trucking along. If we can get any kind of resemblance of decent goaltending.. I feel we can run away with the division by Xmas.

 

[Tkachuky]

Well, the Oilers are back to normal, but the Canucks keep trucking along. If we can get any kind of resemblance of decent goaltending.. I feel we can run away with the division by Xmas.

That’s pretty aggressive thinking. Pacific will still be tight race this year between 3-4 teams... including the oilers.

I just want to be in a playoff spot come March and not have to worry about other teams losing and us making up ground like last year.

 

[DCDM]

Well, the Oilers are back to normal, but the Canucks keep trucking along. If we can get any kind of resemblance of decent goaltending.. I feel we can run away with the division by Xmas.

Are they though? I think the Oilers are better than they're playing. They've gotten disappointing goaltending lately but they also went up against the reigning Cup champs, and the freakin' Lightning. Lots of teams have trouble with those two teams considering how much firepower they both have. I'd be surprised if the Oilers don't snap out of whatever slump they're in after a short while.

I've given up predicting the Canucks lol. They remind me of the 2014/15 find-a-way Flames. They're just going out there and not feeling any pressure at all. Kudos to them, I'm sure it's fun to watch if you're a fan.

 

[Calculon]

 

[Ace Rimmer]

But existing is practically all I do!

 

[JPeeper]

Man the Pacific Division blows ass this year. Another OOT where everyone in the Pacific loses and badly at that.

It'd be nice for the Flames to get some goaltending, win and just leave this losers in the dust. But no, we get sucky goaltending and are including in the sucky bunch.

 

[Anglesmith]

Man the Pacific Division blows ass this year. Another OOT where everyone in the Pacific loses and badly at that.

It'd be nice for the Flames to get some goaltending, win and just leave this losers in the dust. But no, we get sucky goaltending and are including in the sucky bunch.

We have won four out of five games. Things could be a bit worse.

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

You guys know which trade I still find a little bit amusing?

Jordan Eberle for Ryan Strome.

Eberle had an unproductive 2017 playoffs. There are reasons for that which can include:

- It was his first time there
- Standard variance in luck in a small sample size
- Poor line construction
- Poor matchups
- Point totals being unreflective of contributions on goals

And their immediate reaction was that Eberle had to go, even though they had just made the playoffs for the first time in a decade.

Eberle isn't a perfect player - I thought he was always at his best with a skilled grinder on his line. Hall-Hopkins-Eberle early in his career and Pouliot-Hoplins-Eberle back when Pouliot was basically a poor man's Frolik. It made sense. All kinds of it

But to hockey types they can't see that you need a little bit of everything and only saw the negatives. Words like "soft" got thrown around and woth that cliches like "can't win with a guy like that".

Now they're a team that can't score.

You need to augment your truly players with a balance that works. Lots of good teams have floater types rounding out their roster - names along the lines of Kessel, Monahan, Stamkos, JVR, Laine - guys who if they're not scoring bring little else to the table. You tolerate what they don't bring for what they do.

And that is why Peter Chiarelli is the guy who traded:
Phil Kessel
Blake Wheeler
Tyler Seguin
Taylor Hall
Jordan Eberle

And it's f***ing glorious. And the irony is Wheeler, Seguin and Hall have developed into pretty complete 200-foot players.

 

[Mobiandi]

The Canucks are a good team

 

[Kahvi]

The Canucks are a good team

Pretty much like the Flames team '14-'15. Not a lot of expectations before the season, some injuries, callups playing well, and Markus Granlund

 

[Anglesmith]

You guys know which trade I still find a little bit amusing?

Jordan Eberle for Ryan Strome.

Eberle had an unproductive 2017 playoffs. There are reasons for that which can include:

- It was his first time there
- Standard variance in luck in a small sample size
- Poor line construction
- Poor matchups
- Point totals being unreflective of contributions on goals

And their immediate reaction was that Eberle had to go, even though they had just made the playoffs for the first time in a decade.

Eberle isn't a perfect player - I thought he was always at his best with a skilled grinder on his line. Hall-Hopkins-Eberle early in his career and Pouliot-Hoplins-Eberle back when Pouliot was basically a poor man's Frolik. It made sense. All kinds of it

But to hockey types they can't see that you need a little bit of everything and only saw the negatives. Words like "soft" got thrown around and woth that cliches like "can't win with a guy like that".

Now they're a team that can't score.

You need to augment your truly players with a balance that works. Lots of good teams have floater types rounding out their roster - names along the lines of Kessel, Monahan, Stamkos, JVR, Laine - guys who if they're not scoring bring little else to the table. You tolerate what they don't bring for what they do.

And that is why Peter Chiarelli is the guy who traded:
Phil Kessel
Blake Wheeler
Tyler Seguin
Taylor Hall
Jordan Eberle

And it's ****ing glorious. And the irony is Wheeler, Seguin and Hall have developed into pretty complete 200-foot players.

It's the standard hockey fascination with trying to attach narratives to small-sample size results in the playoffs, because it's so hard to acknowledge the extremely low probability of winning a Stanley Cup.

 

[Kahvi]

Go Sabres!

 

[Mobiandi]

Pretty good finish to this Sabres-Canucks game. Shootouts suck though

 

[Kahvi]

That moment when you see old guy Plekanec retire and realize you are 2 years older

 

[Calculon]

Remember when the Oilers depth was far superior to that of the Flames? Well, neither does pepperidge farms because it never was.

Also, they ruined Puljujarvi and he should pull a Baertschi and tell them he won't re-sign there.

 

[Rubi]

Evolution of the goalie glove:

Old glove

Current glove

New prototype glove

 

[super6646]

Nylander on the block. Michael stone, frolik, and a conditional 7th anyone?

 

[Janks]

Remember when the Oilers depth was far superior to that of the Flames? Well, neither does pepperidge farms because it never was.

Also, they ruined Puljujarvi and he should pull a Baertschi and tell them he won't re-sign there.

We were looking for someone to speak in the same language as Vali right? Stone and a 7th for their AHL player seems fair

 

[Mobiandi]

"Hey guys what you would give us for Willy? Not looking to trade him, just wondering lol :p"

 

[Ace Rimmer]

Flames should make a serious offer for the hometown kid.

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

"Hey guys what you would give us for Willy? Not looking to trade him, just wondering lol :p"

It makes sense to weigh your options. If teams are just making lowball offers, you just suck it up and sign him. But it gets interesting if, say, a team like Carolina offers up Ferland + Pesce or something.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

Flames should make a serious offer for the hometown kid.

Hamonic + Bennett would be my best offer.

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

The NHL has had some pretty good lines the years, but I'm not sure I've ever watched a line quite as flawless as Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak. As sensationalist as this is going to undoubtedly sound, it might be the best line ever. Sure, some have scored more (and gave up more), some have played more in other eras (top lines used to log 25-30 minutes back in the day), some have been more "physical" but I don't think any have been as flawless. What they do is god damn amazing.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

The NHL has had some pretty good lines the years, but I'm not sure I've ever watched a line quite as flawless as Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak. As sensationalist as this is going to undoubtedly sound, it might be the best line ever. Sure, some have scored more (and gave up more), some have played more in other eras (top lines used to log 25-30 minutes back in the day), some have been more "physical" but I don't think any have been as flawless. What they do is god damn amazing.

I can’t disagree. That line has every element you could want. One of the best 2-way centers to ever play in the NHL, an elite winger who’s a pest that disrupts the game, has speed and hands, and then an absolute incredible talent like Pastrnak that can create and score as good as anyone in today’s game. It’s a really amazing line to watch.