NHL 2008-2009 Thread

[JustAGuy85]

That is true about Canada having the depth. I wonder what the lines would be.

Iginla, Crosby, Gange
Heatley, Getzlaf, Nash
B. Richards, Thornton, Lecavalier
Toews, Spezza, St. Louis

Then theres still Doan, Stall, Perry, Mike Richards, Morrow, and a few others. I know alot of people won't like Spezza on team Canada but whaatever.

For the D...

Pronger, Phaneuf
Neidermayer, Boyle
Jovanoski, Weber

Maybe Green and Bouwmeester will get on there instead.

And goaltending should be Luongo and Brodeur, no question.

 

[Mauser98k]

Next year they WILL do much better , they have a team that can make the playoffs.I really doubt that they would lose on purpose , with all the injury they have on defense and to the starting goaltender it's no surprise that they come up short in many games ( they have 1 NHL caliber defenceman left in Lukas Krajicek ).So next year with the roster intact they will have a team that can compete every night.

we have a solid line up of defense which isn't something we've had in a couple years. our goal tending is light years ahead of where we were with Holmqvist and Denis. with Vinny, Vaclav, Malone, St. Louis and Stamkos our offense is looking more dangerous. We have an enforcer to stand up for his teammates (Koci) and if we keep Artyukhin (which we MUST) we can get him working in the off season to practice screening goalies and make us deadlier on the power play.

all we have to do is stay healthy and next season should be awesome

 

[JustAGuy85]

Lightning have no D or proven goaltending. Without the cap you guys would still be pretty good with Boyle and Richards.

 

[Mauser98k]

Lightning have no D or proven goaltending. Without the cap you guys would still be pretty good with Boyle and Richards.

you've watched 0 Lightning games this year, haven't you?

Mike Smith is unbelievable in net, to the point where i'd argue that he's better than guys like Roberto Luongo and his mentor Marty Turco, but he's hurt. we have Marek Malik, Andrej Meszaros, Paul Ranger and Cory Murphy on defense who are all great but are all hurt as well. Matt Smaby is a strong, solid defenceman who's turning into something great too.

we're not bullshitting you when we say our team has been decimated by injuries but to say we have "no D or proven goaltending" is ridiculous.

 

[Dawn]

Dawn, go quietly cry in the corner. You've got Cherry rooting for your team now.

I have 2 good reasons to cry then :eek:



Sergei Kostytsyn is back with the Habs. Max Pacioretti is down with the Bulldogs.

Gainey told he wanted an *experienced* lineup for the game against Atlanta. With a real shutdown line. I guess we will loose again...

 

[TunnelOfLove]

That is true about Canada having the depth. I wonder what the lines would be.

Iginla, Crosby, Gange
Heatley, Getzlaf, Nash
B. Richards, Thornton, Lecavalier
Toews, Spezza, St. Louis

Then theres still Doan, Stall, Perry, Mike Richards, Morrow, and a few others. I know alot of people won't like Spezza on team Canada but whaatever.

For the D...

Pronger, Phaneuf
Neidermayer, Boyle
Jovanoski, Weber

Maybe Green and Bouwmeester will get on there instead.

And goaltending should be Luongo and Brodeur, no question.

On paper Canada and Russia have superior individuals, but in the end, the most important thing is the teamplay!

In last Olympic games we had Finland vs. Sweden in finals because these two teams played great as a team.

If Canada or Russia are able to get their stars play as a team, they will be next to impossible for other teams to beat.

 

[Dawn]

Current NHL leaders (by 23/03/09 )

Points
1- Evgeni Malkin PIT 105
2- Sidney Crosby PIT 95
3- Alexander Ovechkin WAS 94
4- Zach Parisé NJ & Pavel Datsyuk DET 88
5- Jarome Iginla CAL 83

Goals
1- Alexander Ovechkin 50
2- Zach Parisé NJ 41
3- Jeff Carter PHI 39
4- Ilya Kovalchuk ATL & Patrick Marleau SJ 37
5- Marian Hossa DET 36

Assists
1- Evgeni Malkin PIT 72
2- Sidney Crosby PIT 67
3- Pavel Datsyuk DET 59
4- Nicklas Backstrom WAS 57
5- Joe Thornton SJ 56

+/-
1- Blake Wheeler BOS & Travis Zajac NJ +36
2- David Krejci BOS +34
3- Dennis Wideman BOS & Pavel Datsyuk DET +32
4- Willie Mitchell VAN, Zach Parisé NJ & Duncan Keith CHI +30
5- Nicklas Lidstrom DET +28

PIM
1- Daniel Carcillo PHO/PHI 211
2- Shane O'Brien VAN 170
3- Colton Orr NYR 164
4- Eric Boulton ATL 161
5- Riley Cote PHI 160

Hits
1- Cal Clutterbuck MIN 302
2- Brooks Orpik PIT 274
3- Dustin Brown LA 254
4- Matt Cooke PIT 243
5- Milan Lucic BOS 240

Blocked Shots
1- Zybnek Michalek PHX 239
2- Brett Clark COL 232
3- Greg Zanon NSH 212
4- Michael Komisarek MTL 182
5- Niclas Havelid ATL/NJ 181

Best Rookies
1- Kris Versteeg CHI 49
2- Bobby Ryan ANA 46
3- Mikhail Grabovski TOR, Blake Wheeler BOS & Patrik Berglund STL 40
4- Steven Stamkos TB 38
5- Michael Frolik FLO 36

Best Defensemen
1- Mike Green WAS 64
2- Andrei Markov MTL 55
3- Brian Rafalski DET 54
4- Mark Streit NYI 53
5- Dan Boyle SJ & Nicklas Lidstrom DET 50

GAA
1- Tim Thomas BOS 2.11
2- Steve Mason CLB 2.23
3- Pekka Rinne NSH 2.26
4- Jonas Hiller ANA 2.30
5- Niklas Backstrom MIN 2.37

Save %
1- Tim Thomas BOS .931
2- Tomas Vokoun FLO .926
3- Craig Anderson FLO .923
4- Pekka Rinne NSH .922
5- Niklas Backstrom MIN, Yann Danis NYI & Jonas Hiller ANA .921

Shutout
1- Steve Mason CLB 9
2- Niklas Backstrom MIN & Pekka Rinne NSH 7
3- Evgeni Nabokov SJ, Roberto Luongo VAN, Ty Conklin DET, Tomas Vokoun FLO 6

Wins
1- Miikka Kiprusoff CAL 41
2- Evgeni Nabokov SJ 37
3- Cam Ward CAR & Henrik Lundqvist NYR 33
4- Niklas Backstrom MIN & Marty Turco DAL 32
5- Tim Thomas BOS 31

Source: http://www.nhl.com/

 

[Mauser98k]

"Best Rookies

4 - Steven Stamkos TB 38"

from a dismal season to candidate for the Rookie Of The Year honor. that kid is gonna be huge.

 

[member979979]

I finally get to watch a game on Versus today

Devils vs Phylers.

 

[calvin_vandele]

I finally get to watch a game on Versus today

Devils vs Phylers.

I wish I had versus. Damn this basic cable. I don't even get F/X. I have to watch It's Always Sunny online.

Anyone hear any rumors about Fedorov wanting to return to the wings?

 

[PlasmaTwa2]

"Best Rookies

4 - Steven Stamkos TB 38"

from a dismal season to candidate for the Rookie Of The Year honor. that kid is gonna be huge.

There are no candiates for Rookie of the Year. There is just Steve Mason. :thumbsup:

 

[member979979]

I want to have hockey night at my buddys place tomorrow for the Wild vs. Rangers, but he thinks it wont be a good game.

 

[PlasmaTwa2]

There are no candiates for Rookie of the Year. There is just Steve Mason. :thumbsup:

Just a follow-up, but Stamkos is actually sixth overall. There are five better than him, but three of them are just tied for third. He's only a few points back, though.

 

[Mauser98k]

Just a follow-up, but Stamkos is actually sixth overall. There are five better than him, but three of them are just tied for third. He's only a few points back, though.

Stammer has 13 points in 12 games. he's not done tearing up the chart yet

 

[STDiva]

Stammer has 13 points in 12 games. he's not done tearing up the chart yet

stammer? hockey nicknames are the worst. actually. all sport nicknames are terrible and lack creativity

 

[STDiva]

steve mason deserves calder and vezina trophies this year.

and as far as non goalies go, bobby ryan is the shit. better then stamkos, versteeg, everybody.

Ryan - 46 points in 54 games. +/- +12
Versteeg - 49 points in 68 games. +/- +15
Stamkos - 38 points in 69 games +/- -11

How Aneheim got Bobby Ryan, Ryan Getzlaf AND Corey Perry blows my mind.

 

[JustAGuy85]

you've watched 0 Lightning games this year, haven't you?

Mike Smith is unbelievable in net, to the point where i'd argue that he's better than guys like Roberto Luongo and his mentor Marty Turco, but he's hurt. we have Marek Malik, Andrej Meszaros, Paul Ranger and Cory Murphy on defense who are all great but are all hurt as well. Matt Smaby is a strong, solid defenceman who's turning into something great too.

we're not bullshitting you when we say our team has been decimated by injuries but to say we have "no D or proven goaltending" is ridiculous.

Umm...

Marek Malik has 5 points in 42 games this year..his greatest accomplishment in his career is the under-the-leg shootout move he did for the Rangers...he's garbage

Meszaros, 16 points in 52 games...overpaid

Mike Smith was 14-18-11 before he got hurt...decent save % and GA, but he's never played more than 23 games in a season (besides this one) so it's hard to tell if he's going to be consistant

Murphey is decent

I know you're a TB fan, but saying they have no D or proven goaltending is NOT ridiculous

 

[PlasmaTwa2]

^ And I'd just like to say that saying Smith is as good as Luongo is absolute blasphemy.

 

[JustAGuy85]

^ And I'd just like to say that saying Smith is as good as Luongo is absolute blasphemy.

Yeah I didn't even have to mention that. I don't think anyone took that seriously.

Tampa is also 27th in the league in goals against.

 

[PlasmaTwa2]

Yeah I didn't even have to mention that. I don't think anyone took that seriously.

Tampa is also 27th in the league in goals against.

I think it is a better bet to say that Smith has potential to be the next Luongo or Turco. He's new, he is not going to be the best right away. It will take some time for him to become the goalie that Tampa needs, but with the right kind of training and atmosphere he could go far.

Where he is now, however, he is nowhere near the goalie I have heard people claim he is. Despite what everyone says, the stats speak for themselves, and they say that he has a long way to go.

Perhaps such a hard season is good for him. Nowadays there are alot of new young goalies who have one amazing season and then collapse under the pressure. Just look at Price and Emery. As much as I don't want to say it, there is a good chance Mason will be like them next year, too. Having such a bad season is only a good thing for a goalie with as much potential as Smith has. He can rebuild with the Lightning and he can become a integrated part of their strategy, as well as learn alot from people like Lecavilier and St. Louis.