Myths about your teams organization:

[GKJ]

Myth: The Flyers lose in the playoffs because of poor goaltending

1995: The Flyers weren't ready to win

1996: Still trying to figure that out

1997: The Red Wings were a dominant team, the Flyers won 3 series in 5 games to get out of the East (rather easily, first 2 rounds the Flyers were up 3-0)

1998: The Flyers didn't come to play

1999: OK, Vanbeisbrouck was bad, but so was the offense (Game 5 vs. Toronto)

2000: Boucher was out of his mind

2001: Ok, Cechmanek wasn't good, but Daymond Langkow was anchoring the top line going in, and Primeau risked his carreer later on by playing on a blown out knee.

2002: 0 even strength goals in regulation, the 1974 Washington Capitals would have done better, even if they didn't win Game 1 1-0 in overtime.

2003: Could have been better vs. Toronto, but was good enough, and they rest of the team failed to show up against Ottawa...again.

2004: Special teams?

Myth: Bob Clarke is a bad GM, regardless of how he handled the coaching. Not many teams can say they made the playoffs every year since 1995 (Detroit, Colorado/Quebec, St. Louis)

 

[ZombieMatt]

I don't want to go out and say any myths/facts about the Canucks because frankly, Canucks fans opinions vary from person to person a great deal.

I WILL say that I would be shocked if the Canucks did not select a goalie with one of their first three picks. Do not be surprised at all to see the Canucks pick a goalie with their first round pick...perhaps Dubnyk, but that's just throwing out a name from me.

 

[PecaFan]

In 34 years, the Canucks have *never* selected a goalie in the first round. I highly doubt this is going to change, this is an organisation that simply doesn't value goalies very highly.

It looks like we don't have a 2nd or 3rd rounder, by "first three picks" do you mean our 1st, 4th and 5th round picks?

 

[guitaraholic*]

Originally Posted by MisterUnspoken
Myth:
-The Rangers will take anyones overpaid garbage in a deal
-Glen Sather is a terrible GM
-The Rangers are looking to sign every UFA that walks the Earth
-The Rangers have no farm system and draft poorly
-The Rangers ruined Blackburn and Lundmark

Thanks for the good laugh, I really needed it.

Have to agree with Broadway Crosby on this one... Sather has PROVEN he's a terrible GM. Case can be made that his performance on BWay has been one of the worst ever by any GM anywhere at anytime in the history of the NHL.... or nearly as bad. He's a terrible, awful GM.

 

[bleedgreen]

i disagree. he was an awesome gm in edm - to damn him for his time in ny is shortsighted. he did exactly what any gm would have done in terms of fa's in ny. it didnt work - and it wouldnt have worked for pl, lou, or any other gm. this rebuild is the first time he has been able to build the team as he would have liked - through youth. he started it, so he deserves the chance to take it a long for awhile. which moves were the bad ones? holik and kaspar were considered the wisest investments the rangers had made in years, at the time. discounted jagr for carter - even if you dont like jagr was a good trade. the dismantling trades brought back more than most peoplpe thought those slugs were worth. sathers major foulup has been coaches - but we dont know what goes on behind the scenes that leaned him to his coaching choices. the players of ny deserve the majority of the blame, not the guy who put together an all star team that SHOULd have won a lot more games. i give him credit for making the moves he has made recently.

 

[Russian Fan]

i disagree. he was an awesome gm in edm - to damn him for his time in ny is shortsighted. he did exactly what any gm would have done in terms of fa's in ny. it didnt work - and it wouldnt have worked for pl, lou, or any other gm. this rebuild is the first time he has been able to build the team as he would have liked - through youth. he started it, so he deserves the chance to take it a long for awhile. which moves were the bad ones? holik and kaspar were considered the wisest investments the rangers had made in years, at the time. discounted jagr for carter - even if you dont like jagr was a good trade. the dismantling trades brought back more than most peoplpe thought those slugs were worth. sathers major foulup has been coaches - but we dont know what goes on behind the scenes that leaned him to his coaching choices. the players of ny deserve the majority of the blame, not the guy who put together an all star team that SHOULd have won a lot more games. i give him credit for making the moves he has made recently.

Also who's to say that Sather had the power to build this team his way ? Im not into inside doors or anything but what Sather has done at the trade deadline is simply AWESOME !!! I got the feeling that Sather was tied up like any other NYR before to have a WIN NOW MENTALITY at any cost. Since the NYR had so much money & he got the mission to WIN AT ANY COST, I dont think Sather could have convince the NYR board to rebuild & that would be the only way on how this team could go back to success. So my theory is that Sather had no choice to go to the path that the board (or the PRESIDENT, I dont know how the NYR works) wants & he had no choice to follow it.

Now that he demonstrate that a team can't be a team with only UFA's & no chemistry, I think we will now see HOW TRULY Glen Sather is a GREAT GM. IMO he already proove it with EDM & he made some very good move at the trade deadline.

I dont know if it make sense to some other people here but that's my 2 cents.

 

[Goodwith Sticks]

Mine-I constantly read that the Leaf's "cupboard is bare"-does anyone in the know see any truth to this? I sure dont...Let's look down the road-defence-Kaberle(still young), Coliacovo, Harrison, Hedin, Bell, D'Amour-could name others-5 LIKELY NHL calibre defencemen right there. Centre ice-Stajan, Steen, Antropov(iffy I know), Williams, Mitchell, Druken(poss.), Wellwood, St.Jacques-I guess you can only say Stajan and Steen are sure-fire NHLers but none the less, legit prospects are there. Wings-not as strong but Sagat is growing in leaps and bounds (from what I read) and Volkov is apparently quite a talent. I have limited exposure to SJ Maple Leafs but, from what I have seen-maybe 5 games last year-Ben Ondrus has the get up and go and desire to make a push for the bigs. In net, Tellqvist and J-F Racine-watch -Racine will do very well next year in SJ if Telly backs up Belfour (?) in T.O. I won't count Todd Ford as a legit prosect yet as I'm realistic. I know their may be a name or two I have missed :

Yes, I'm a leafs fan but I think what I say here is legit enough to debunk the myth. Honestly I think it's a manifestation of Sens, Habs and others fans who are fed up with the Leafs domination of their teams. That's a trend you can definitely look for to continue. I'm not at all saying the Leafs have one of the best systems in the league but I keep reading their futures so bleak, and, truthfully, I just don't see it.

 

[jt2004]

Whoops your right I guess I said that in another thread.

Yes they might but they need a forward even more than a defenseman. They thrive on bottom feeders. Look at Mitchell, Kuba, and Henry.

Bolduc and Misharin are really interesting prospects...They might not be top 4 but I believe top 6...Stokes, Reitz, and Michalek make complimentary defensemen.

What the Wild and any other smart GM will do is draft the best player when they pick. However that said if they are undecided they will choose the natural offensive players mostly because the league places such a premium on talented scorers.

 

[markov`]

Myth-db23 is the Montreal Canadiens worldwide scout as he's seen all of the Habs prospects in action and is able to state, with confidence, that Andrei Kastsitsyn is a bust and that Alexander Perezhogin will not play in the NHL next season.

Fact-Montreal Canadiens do in deed have one of the deepest, if not deepest, pool of prospects, Andrei Kastsityn and Alexander Perezhogin are two talented prospects who both have an edge to their games to go along with their skill, Marcel Hossa and Ron Hainsey are 2 players that have taken longer than expected to develop but both have shown good signs both at the NHL and AHL level, both should secure a permanent spot with the Habs next year....Chris Higgins and Tomas Plekanec are two young spunky centers who play a solid all-around game, Higgins just finished a very successful rookie season in the AHL and Plekanec has put up back to back solid seasons in the AHL and if it weren't for bad contracts in Montreal this season, probably would of seen more games, he has nothing left to prove at the AHL level...Yann Danis was recently signed after putting up Ken Dryden like numbers in college and immideatly became our #1 goaltending prospect ahead of Michaud and Puruula...back to back CHL scoring champ Corey Locke should head to the AHL next year and we'll be better suited to say what kind of carreer he'll have once he plays vs. bigger, better competition, he should be joined by recently signed 02 draftee Mikael Lambert and Corey Urquhart, two players coming off very successful seasons in the Q...Maxim Lapierre, an agressive center came off a career year in the NHL where he played in all situations and should have an even better season next year as he'll be the focal point of the offense...Konstantin Korneev a smallish offensive d-man was named to the Russian Senior National Team, a great feat for a player who's 19yrs old and who captained his WJ team in this past years tournament...

fact- There's a few more players i'm high on that I could also add in here (Milroy, O'byrne) that could make other NHL teams top 10 prospects, but I think i've made my point, right db23?

I'm not trying to say that the Habs have the best prospects in the NHL, as it's something we won't be able to prove until 4 5 years from now, at least from the current class of draftees the Habs have...but to say that they're not among the deepest in the NHL is dumb...i'm spent

Fact - 417 to Montreal rock!

 

[Aarex]

Myth - the Habs have the best group of prospects in the league.

Fact - they traded away their top prospect Josef Balej and their "top two" current prospects are very iffy at this point. Andrei Kastitsyn has shown nothing to indicate that he will be an NHL player and Alexander Perezhogin has a large cloud hanging over his head as a result of his AHL suspension. Marcel Hossa will be 23 years old when the season starts and he is spinning his wheels.The only viable prospects at the moment are Chris Higgins and Ron Hainsey with the possibility of one or both of Olivier Michaud and Yann Danis coming through. Corey Locke could be another if they sign him.

Andre Savard traded away or wasted a lot of picks that Rejean Houle had stockpiled and Bob Gainey has traded away a couple of more from this summer's draft already. There is cause for concern if the scouting staff doesn't perform better this time round.

Uhhh how is that a fact? Since when is Josef Balej our "top prospect?" He was one of our better prospects but definatly not our top prospect. Set aside your hatred for Kastitsyn and your stats fetish and listen to reason..you are the only habs fan who doesn't like Kastitsyn (the only) While Chris Higgins is a viable prospect you are leaving about about 10 players who are very viable...Montreal does IMO have the best group of prospects in the league not because we have "the next great one" but because we have alot of depth of players who likely will play in the NHL and have good careers. Please never post as if your speaking on behalf of all the Canadians fans here in my eyes there is only afew who are capable of doing it and you are definatly not one of them.

 

[guitaraholic*]

for those of you defending Glen Sather's Reign of (T)error in New Yawk, just give me one example of a good trade that he's made since he's been there. Just one. Then maybe I'll revisit his tenure as Rags GM even though I do not think it's even close... he's been brutal, in every way, shape and form, as New York's GM. Sorry. It's closer to fact than opinion...

One good trade. That'll be a start.

 

[Habsaku]

for those of you defending Glen Sather's Reign of (T)error in New Yawk, just give me one example of a good trade that he's made since he's been there. Just one. Then maybe I'll revisit his tenure as Rags GM even though I do not think it's even close... he's been brutal, in every way, shape and form, as New York's GM. Sorry. It's closer to fact than opinion...

One good trade. That'll be a start.

Heres two: Carter for Jagr(lets not forget the huge chunk of $$ paid by WAS)
Kovalev for 2nd and Balej

 

[Seph]

Heres two: Carter for Jagr(lets not forget the huge chunk of $$ paid by WAS)
Kovalev for 2nd and Balej

c'mon, Milbury has better trades than that. especially when you factor in that the Rangers' record worsened after bringing on Jagr (they needed D, not offense). Or that Jozef Balej has yet to do anything in the NHL and the 2nd is in what is hyped as one of the weakest drafts in years, while Kovalev scored 6goals and 10points in 11games for the Habs in the playoffs.

 

[Russian Fan]

c'mon, Milbury has better trades than that. especially when you factor in that the Rangers' record worsened after bringing on Jagr (they needed D, not offense). Or that Jozef Balej has yet to do anything in the NHL and the 2nd is in what is hyped as one of the weakest drafts in years, while Kovalev scored 6goals and 10points in 11games for the Habs in the playoffs.

Still Kovalev is a UFA to come, getting a good prospect + a 2nd is a great return for a UFA.

Well Jagr vs Carter is a steal what can you say about it ? & im not talking yet about the Caps getting to pay half of the contract. WOW !

I like the Rachunek trade also.

 

[guitaraholic*]

Heres two: Carter for Jagr(lets not forget the huge chunk of $$ paid by WAS)
Kovalev for 2nd and Balej

Wrong answer. Neither of those quailifies as 'good trades' IMO. Jagr was a total salary dump, he's a headcase and he failed to improve the Rags roster since he joined the team, failed to get them into the playoffs and comes with a contract that only Jagr could love. And you think this acquisition is a credit to Sather? Ha, that's hilarious.

Kovalev for a 2nd and Balej? Again, debatable.... if these are the best you can offer, I stand by my original assertion: GM GS BGs (blows goats)

 

[Seph]

Still Kovalev is a UFA to come, getting a good prospect + a 2nd is a great return for a UFA.

Well Jagr vs Carter is a steal what can you say about it ? & im not talking yet about the Caps getting to pay half of the contract. WOW !

I like the Rachunek trade also.

I'm not saying they're bad trades. Well, the Kovy one anyway, I still don't like the Jagr trade -- taking on salary, a longer contract and worsening your team in the process is pretty hard to look at as a good trade. But regardless, these are not that great of trades, and as I said, even Milbury has better trades. They don't redeem Sather.

And honestly, I think Kovalev's value would've been lower if he were on contract for longer.

 

[Russian Fan]

I'm not saying they're bad trades. Well, the Kovy one anyway, I still don't like the Jagr trade -- taking on salary, a longer contract and worsening your team in the process is pretty hard to look at as a good trade. But regardless, these are not that great of trades, and as I said, even Milbury has better trades. They don't redeem Sather.

And honestly, I think Kovalev's value would've been lower if he were on contract for longer.

Personnally I dont see why you care so much about the salary, Jagr @ 5,5M$ is simply a steal. You get rid of a good player (Carter) that wasn't playing well for your team & you get a superstar where even @ 75% he get a PPG anyway.

I can easily understand why NYR fans are not satisfied with Sather but to be objective, why Sather can't take any good on what he's done good (like saying Jagr is not a Sather's move) & he got to take all the blame for everything that has gone wrong in the last few years ? (where maybe he didn't have full power of his role until now)

I think Sather's himself take the blame for some things but this NYR team wont be build in 4 days. Jagr himself wont make this team a cup contender but it's already far better than having Anson Carter.

Sather put this team 1 step in the right direction in march. You can be suspicious & it's understandable but that's my point of view as an outsider.

 

[Seph]

Personnally I dont see why you care so much about the salary, Jagr @ 5,5M$ is simply a steal. You get rid of a good player (Carter) that wasn't playing well for your team & you get a superstar where even @ 75% he get a PPG anyway.

I can easily understand why NYR fans are not satisfied with Sather but to be objective, why Sather can't take any good on what he's done good (like saying Jagr is not a Sather's move) & he got to take all the blame for everything that has gone wrong in the last few years ? (where maybe he didn't have full power of his role until now)

I think Sather's himself take the blame for some things but this NYR team wont be build in 4 days. Jagr himself wont make this team a cup contender but it's already far better than having Anson Carter.

Sather put this team 1 step in the right direction in march. You can be suspicious & it's understandable but that's my point of view as an outsider.

I hold off judgement on Sather's youth movement, until it actually develops into something. I agree it's the right direction, but unless he sticks with it, it doesn't mean a thing.

And even if Jagr is better than Carter, Jagr wasn't the right move. The Rangers were down a goalie and a few defensemen, and Sather goes out and gets a forward, completely eliminating any salary flexibility the Rangers had to make a move for a player that could've actually helped them make the playoffs. That's why salary matters.

My only real point, is that Milbury has made the playoffs every year he's had a payroll above the league average. Sather's had among the top three payrolls for how many years without making the playoffs? On top of that, Milbury's made a number of good trades, some a far sight better than the trades cited here as good trades by Sather. My question to you is, would you consider Milbury a good GM?

 

[Dr.Sens(e)]

The fact Sather was able to make trades that involved his team taking on huge salaries - salaries most other contenders could not afford - does not reflect in any nature on his abilities as a general manager.

I'm not wading into this argument one way or the other really, just pointing out that it was hardly a case of Sather being a brilliant General Manager. But taking on a bunch of salary only to miss out on the playoffs, just means the organization lost even more money.

In the world of finite budgets, that is not good.

 

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Myth: The Wild need a top 2 defensemen
Fact: At the end of last year, the Wild lost defenseman Filip Kuba to a hand injury forcing them to either call up a defenseman or covert one of their forwards to defense. They chose the later and put Brent Burns on defense. It was a perfect match as Burns uses his size to hit people but he is also good at puck handling. While it is hard to say if he is a top 2 or top 4 defenseman at this point or if he is going to stay at the position is another matter but for the moment, I believe the Wild and Burns are comfortable with him being on the blueline.

Myth: The Wild need defensemen
Fact: I kind of perptuated this but the Wild actually do not need very many defensemen. We got Misharin and Bolduc along with Stokes, Reitz, and Michalek in the minors with Schultz and Burns in the NHL. We have good depth and it's not a glaring need, we'll probably pick up a few in the later rounds though.

Just because you don't NEED a position doesn't mean you'll steer clear. Heck, the Wild might but that's only one strategy.

The Flames for example had Lydman, Regehr, Leopold, Gauthier, Commodore, Montador, etc plus a bunch of later round euro's. So defensemen was far from a glaring need. But what do we do? We pick Phaneuf and Ramholt with our first two picks. Was it a bad decision? Doesn't look like it. We can always make room for Phaneuf at a later date.

So....

Myth: Teams will draft heavily based on needs and depth.

Fact: Outside of goalies most teams will probably just take the prospect they are most sold on outside of position.

I think far too many people are trying to read too much into their depth at certain positions in an attempt to figure out who they might be picking.

 

[Fat Elvis]

LA Kings
Myth; "We're a goaltender and a few parts away from being a contender"
Fact; That sales pitch works every year.