Confirmed with Link: Tyler Kennedy calls it a career

[Shady Machine]

I always liked TK and thought he received a raw deal here on these boards. It's not his fault that Goalies became huge along with their equipment. If he had played in different era, TK would have been a sniper.

That's weird. I don't ever recall a time where goalies had logo sized holes through their chests. When did the NHL change that rule?

 

[Coastal Kev]

That's weird. I don't ever recall a time where goalies had logo sized holes through their chests. When did the NHL change that rule?

Why do you think most shots today hit the chest protector??

There once was a time not too long ago that the circles were a prime scoring position.


The NHL has been changed forever and not for the better. Mike Bossy would struggle and I do mean struggle to score 15 goals in today's NHL. That's a fact.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

I know the latter portion of his tenure soured many of us on him, but I'll always love him for his tireless work ethic and he was one of my favorite prospects before he made it. He was a really solid player for a while, and thankfully when he did decline we were still able to get a 2nd round pick for him (used to trade up to draft Tristan Jarry).

FWIW he did play enough NHL games to earn a pension, so assuming he didn't blow all of his money and invested some of it I doubt he'll be hurting to survive moving forward. He also earned over $10 million in his career, so I doubt he'll go hungry.

 

[Shady Machine]

Why do you think most shots today hit the chest protector??

There once was a time not too long ago that the circles were a prime scoring position.


The NHL has been changed forever and not for the better. Mike Bossy would struggle and I do mean struggle to score 15 goals in today's NHL. That's a fact.

Well for one, I was kidding. Secondly, how can you state a hypothetical as a fact? You have no way of knowing that Mike Bossy would struggle to score 15 goals today. You're just making an educated guess, but it's far from a fact.

I'd like to see goalie equipment streamlined, but that's not the only reason scoring is down. Players top to bottom are better, coaching is much more structured, and shot blocking is nearly required by everyone.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Scoring is down because the league doesn't enforce it's own rules, first and foremost.

Start the conversation there.

 

[Shady Machine]

Scoring is down because the league doesn't enforce it's own rules, first and foremost.

Start the conversation there.

Yeah that too.

 

[Coastal Kev]

Well for one, I was kidding. Secondly, how can you state a hypothetical as a fact? You have no way of knowing that Mike Bossy would struggle to score 15 goals today. You're just making an educated guess, but it's far from a fact.

I'd like to see goalie equipment streamlined, but that's not the only reason scoring is down. Players top to bottom are better, coaching is much more structured, and shot blocking is nearly required by everyone.

You're right, it's not a fact. But I saw Bossy score most of his goals from the circles with a snap shot. In today's NHL, it will usually end up as a faceoff from the same circle.


They are never going to get a grip on equipment, simply make nets bigger.

 

[NewAgeOutlaw]

You're right, it's not a fact. But I saw Bossy score most of his goals from the circles with a snap shot. In today's NHL, it will usually end up as a faceoff from the same circle.


They are never going to get a grip on equipment, simply make nets bigger.

Have you any idea how often Ovie scores on snap shots from the circle? Great goal scorers score a lot in any era. The goalie equipment is the same for every player.

Bossy would still be a top goal scorer these days and TK would still be a journeyman 3rd and 4th liner in the 80's.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Bossy scored most of his goals from the circles with a slap shot because it worked...I'd imagine if that stopped working he'd start trying other things. Bossy's shot was so good that I don't imagine him struggling in any era, though he was definitely best built for the era he played in.

That said I agree that the equipment changes aren't going to make much of a difference and the biggest issue is simply goalies being far larger than they were in the 80s or even 90s...if you want to increase offense without changing any other rules, making the nets larger is the way to go. The goalie in me says call the damn rulebook as its written before you start messing with the net, that's the change I want to see...but I also don't get the stance that the net is some holy thing that can't be messed with.

Regardless none of this has anything to do with the dude who was constantly followed closely with a wrestling reference I never got

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Bossy scored most of his goals from the circles with a slap shot because it worked...I'd imagine if that stopped working he'd start trying other things. Bossy's shot was so good that I don't imagine him struggling in any era, though he was definitely best built for the era he played in.

That said I agree that the equipment changes aren't going to make much of a difference and the biggest issue is simply goalies being far larger than they were in the 80s or even 90s...if you want to increase offense without changing any other rules, making the nets larger is the way to go. The goalie in me says call the damn rulebook as its written before you start messing with the net, that's the change I want to see...but I also don't get the stance that the net is some holy thing that can't be messed with.

Regardless none of this has anything to do with the dude who was constantly followed closely with a wrestling reference I never got

Yeah, I've never understood this notion that net size is some sacred, un-****-withable thing. I would have no problems changing the dimensions if it helped increase scoring. And it makes sense for the reasons you've gone over... not only is equipment bigger... goaltenders and players in general are bigger.

As for the bolded... welcome to my world the last year-ish+

Kennedy didn't suffer for the era he played in, IMO. He was just kind of a spazz with his shot.

 

[wej20]

Did make me laugh that he runs a sniper school. His shot had decent velocity but it was chest 90% of the time, miss 5 % top shelf 5%.

 

[SHOOTANDSCORE]

That's weird. I don't ever recall a time where goalies had logo sized holes through their chests. When did the NHL change that rule?

Beautiful.

 

[wgknestrick]

Yeah, I've never understood this notion that net size is some sacred, un-****-withable thing. I would have no problems changing the dimensions if it helped increase scoring. And it makes sense for the reasons you've gone over... not only is equipment bigger... goaltenders and players in general are bigger.

As for the bolded... welcome to my world the last year-ish+

Kennedy didn't suffer for the era he played in, IMO. He was just kind of a spazz with his shot.

Goaltending does not reward skill (as much) any more. The puck is caught almost automatically in the chest protector, the leg pads auto rotate when you go down, and the pants are gigantic. There is a reason that the elite and scrubs are still only about 2% apart in SV%. Don't even get me started on the five hole goals that almost entirely disappeared from the game.

The best NHL era was when goalies could not just sit back in the crease and had to challenge the shooters. The risk/reward chess match was exciting as players could fake shots and pass around the goalie (now out of his net) much easier. Just look at the amount of passing play-goals early 90s compared to now.

Increasing the size of the nets will bring a little of this back, but I still see no reason for the chest protectors and pants to cover 2x the square ft of 90s era equipment. These things are WIDE!!!!! It's just cheating and no goalie will ever give that up if asked to weigh in on it. They all cry "protection" as if 90s goalies could barely last a game before breaking an arm off. Your arms don't have to be 8-10 inches wide to have protection from the puck.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I don't disagree with you at all. I think goaltending equipment has gone just a tad bit further than simply "protection" at this point. Though there have always been offenders... like Garth Snow (was he the one that literally had a drop down trapdoor for his five hole?).

I just don't think it's the biggest reason scoring is down.

 

[Ogrezilla]

It would be weird to be retired and out of your dream career at 30. But also, pretty awesome. I'm sure he can find something to do.

 

[Ogrezilla]

You're right, it's not a fact. But I saw Bossy score most of his goals from the circles with a snap shot. In today's NHL, it will usually end up as a faceoff from the same circle.


They are never going to get a grip on equipment, simply make nets bigger.

I saw James Neal score most of his goals from the circles with a snap shot too.

 

[Tacitus Kilgore]

How many from the 09' Cup team are still playing?

 

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

How many from the 09' Cup team are still playing?

The obvious ones:
Crosby (Rocket Richard favorite)
Malkin (My horse in the Art Ross race)
Staal
Letang (When he's healthy, anyway)
Orpik
Goligoski (now a negative Corsi and Fenwick player, Goalagainstski is back!)
Fleury
Kunitz (for some values of 'playing' )

If KHL counts:
Maxime Talbot (he's about 5'8")

If AHL counts:
Rob Scuderi


If guys who only played for them in the regular season count:

Jeff Taffe (KHL)
Biz Nasty (AHL)
Dustin Jeffrey (Switzerland...if the Swiss A league counts)
Janne Pesonen (Switzerland)
Chris Minard (Germany...if the DEL counts)
Tim Wallace (ECHL...if the ECHL counts)
Bill Thomas (Austria...I didn't even know they had a league)

 

[bathroomSTAAL]

I didn't know Scuderi was in the AHL. That's kind of sad.

 

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

I didn't know Scuderi was in the AHL. That's kind of sad.

A lot of players with longer, more-productive careers than Rob Scuderi's have finished up in the A.

 

[PensBandwagonerNo272*]

One of my favorite players during those early era years. Just a workhorse, created energy for the whole team. The Cooke-Staal-TK line was awesome.

Grats on the career dude.

 

[Shady Machine]

I saw James Neal score most of his goals from the circles with a snap shot too.

That was an illusion.

 

[Pancakes]

The Cooke-Staal-TK line was really fun to watch in its prime. Those guys generated so much momentum for us by just pinning other teams in their end for shifts at a time. TK was a huge part of that and was great at racking up shots and being a pest on the forecheck.

We never really replaced what that third line did until last year with the HBK line.

 

[Shady Machine]

The Cooke-Staal-TK line was really fun to watch in its prime. Those guys generated so much momentum for us by just pinning other teams in their end for shifts at a time. TK was a huge part of that and was great at racking up shots and being a pest on the forecheck.

We never really replaced what that third line did until last year with the HBK line.

Agreed. I see Rust as the closest TK comparable we've had. I think Rust so far has shown a little better hands around the net and is becoming less spazzy (hopefully allowing him to play with guys like Sid and Geno longer term), but Kennedy probably had a better shot (chest sniping and all).

 

[Pancakes]

Agreed. I Rust as the closest TK comparable we've had. I think Rust so far has shown a little better hands around the net and is becoming less spazzy (hopefully allowing him to play with guys like Sid and Geno longer term), but Kennedy probably had a better shot (chest sniping and all).

I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees the comparable between Rust and TK. I mentioned that once in a PG but many disagreed. Personally I think they're two peas in a pod - complete with the fact that both have terrible vision . But I'll take either on my team any day because their enthusiasm and fearlessness on the ice are things you can't teach.

Having a third line that can tilt the ice was key in both of our recent Cup wins so I hope by the playoffs this year we either have HBK reunited or have some type of third line mix that can dominate and possess the puck for us. It's absolutely crucial to have that when you get into a series like the one vs Washington where Sid and Geno were largely shut down. No way we win that series in the past because our bottom six would not have gotten it done, but last year HBK and the Cullen line were able to contribute.