The Official 2016-17 NHL thread

[lgna69xxx]

have fun

Go Leafs Go!

I only 'got you' because i told a good friend of mine you'd be the first to reply to my post if i added something about Trump in it.

And no, i didn't wager this time. My friend doesn't believe in that stuff.

By the way, i may not be able to send any updates tonight since i'm planning to be 'occupied' for a good part of the evening.

However, i predict a Leafs victory! Go Leafs Go!

 

[Doc Holliday]

have fun

Go Leafs Go!

Actually, it's turning out like i may be able to give you updates, after all. Go Leafs! Go Sens! Go TFC!

 

[EagerBeaver]

Last season he couldn't have scored with Woopie Goldberg even if he would have paid her!

He is the same person, Michael Grabner. Difference is he is now with a team and coaching staff which understands, appreciates and knows how to properly utilize his skills and talents. It happens sometimes in sports that a player who is not properly used by one team is then traded and blossoms with another. Look at Jake Arrieta. For how many years did the Orioles jerk this fucking guy around. Then he gets traded to the Cubs and he instantly become a productive pitcher and then a star pitcher. Look at his stats with the Os and look at his stats since he was traded to the Cubs. It's obvious that the Orioles fucked around and fucked up the guy and did not develop him. But he realized his potential almost immediately with the Cubs. This was no accident.

 

[jalimon]

So as of today the Habs are still first in the league So far in the season Radulov has made a huge difference. He loves Montreal, and Montreal loves him so hopefully he will remain here and remain good!

Bebye les filles

Cheers,

 

[EagerBeaver]

I predicted before the season even started that Conor McDavid would lead the NHL in scoring and as of today McDavid leads the NHL with 28 points. These young players are establishing themselves quickly. I suspected it would happen with McDavid because he combines athleticism with a high skill level. An unbeatable combo.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Panthers Fire Gallant

It took until November 27 but the axe has fallen on the first NHL coach this season and it's not the guy you would have expected. What this teaches is that if your team is besieged with injuries and you can't win with the guys who you are left with, no matter how good or experienced they are, you're fucked:

Panthers fire coach Gerard Gallant via @ESPN App http://es.pn/2fCWWWg

 

[Doc Holliday]

The firing of Gerry Gallant is a ridiculous panic move by Panthers management, but the writing was on the wall ever since Dale Tallon was removed as the team's GM and 'promoted' to an executive position in the organization prior to this season. There's been quite a bit of turmoil within the organization and Gallant's days were numbered.

Now George McPhee and the Las Vegas Golden Knights are smiling. Don't be surprised if Gallant is hired by the new franchise.

 

[jalimon]

The firing of Gerry Gallant is a ridiculous panic move by Panthers management

Don't be surprised if Gallant is hired by the new franchise.

Completely agree. Look at the team and the stats since he is there. Look at how they were before. This reminds me of Claude Julien being fired from New Jersey only to win the Stanley Cup just a year or 2 later with the Bruins, and being there ever since!

Gallant will be near the top of the list for any team looking for a new coach.

Cheers,

 

[EagerBeaver]

Gallant is the classically scapegoated coach. However, the Coaching Carousel in the NHL has become a speed train. I believe there have been 16 coaching changes made in the NHL since the end of the 2014-2015 season. The numbers do not lie. It's a job with very little security. Any NHL coach who gets hired is well advised to only do 1 year rentals on real estate, with an escape clause. I would also advise the NHL coaching candidate not to have a wife or children as it is totally unfair to constantly uproot them from schools and jobs and also have them read about Daddy's neck in a noose 24/7/365. The ideal NHL coach is a single man who lives in hotels (and hotel bars when he has a rare chance for some free time, seeing escorts when time permits and biology intervenes). There are only a few guys in the league like Babcock who have big contracts and reasonable security as a rebuilding job is launched. Most of the rest of these poor bastards live with a GM's revolver to their heads, ready to be fired at any time, even after the so called "vote of confidence" which is usually the final death sentence.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Gallant was likely not fired because of the job he was doing. It was simply a case of new management wanting their own guy. He was granted a two-year extension back in January, so he should take his time before accepting any job offer right now.

It is true that many NHL coaches don't have the job security that a Mike Babcock or a Joel Quenneville may have. This is one of the reasons Babcock gave when he left Detroit a year or so ago. He hoped that putting himself on the market and getting the biggest contract he could get would hopefully help other coaches in his position in getting higher wages and more job security. But it seems to have had an opposite effect. Many teams like the Flyers decided to go cheap and hired someone from the college ranks instead. Which is actually good for a lot of young up-and-coming coaching prospects. When it comes to coaching, it's the same ol' "old boys club" mentality where friends are giving friends coaching jobs. That's why many former NHL players wind up in coaching jobs. Most are likely unqualified to be NHL coaches, but get the jobs because of who they are and who they know. There are more qualified coaching prospects in the college and junior ranks which don't often get their opportunity to coach at the NHL level because those jobs are already filled by former players.

So in a way, the likes of Babcock and Quenneville getting big contracts has opened a lot of doors since most teams aren't comfortable shelling out big money to coaches.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Although my preseason prediction that Conor McDavid would lead the NHL in scoring was widely mocked, he has now pumped the lead out to 5 points with his NHL leading 31 points:

http://www.espn.com/nhl/statistics

None of the guys on the board behind are going to catch him. The one guy who can catch him, Crosby, who leads the NHL with 15 goals, can't miss any games and his history shows he will miss games. So McDavid will win his first of many scoring titles.

Note also that Michael Grabner has now grabbed the lead in +/-

 

[Doc Holliday]

Note also that Michael Grabner has now grabbed the lead in +/-

Hip-hip-hooray!!!! Rejoice!!

p.s. As for Connor McDavid, he won't win the scoring championship while playing on a team that sucks that much.

 

[Sol Tee Nutz]

Thinking that the leafs wish they would have picked Patrik Laine, doing very well in Winnipeg, they have/had 3 in the top 15 in points this year, with a good goalie they could be good contenders.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Thinking that the leafs wish they would have picked Patrik Laine, doing very well in Winnipeg, they have/had 3 in the top 15 in points this year, with a good goalie they could be good contenders.

There can be no doubt that the Leafs are second guessing themselves on that one. I also have no doubt that Lamoriello and Babcock fought on that pick, and it went down something like this:

Lamiorello: We are taking Auston Matthews.
Babcock: What about Patrik Laine? He looks like a better goal scorer.
Lamoriello: Mathhews is better all around, has a better body and I think he will be a better 2 way player.
Babcock: But Laine is a sniper and we need a guy like that.
Lamoriello: Mike, check out the rings on my fingers, I know what I am doing dude.
Babcock: Check out this ring dude, and I was ice level for that, winning with someone else's guys who were not even guys I wanted.
Lamiorello: Listen, I am the GM here, and Mathhews is our guy.
Babcock: Whatever you say boss, but Laine is going to haunt your fucking ass, he will have a hat trick first game against us, and show his ass crack at your box after he does it.
Lamiorello: We'll see about that. Maybe you should use your supposedly awesome coaching skills to prevent that from happening?????
Babcock: With the defensemen and goalie you gave me, I will do my best sir.

 

[Doc Holliday]

There can be no doubt that the Leafs are second guessing themselves on that one. I also have no doubt that Lamoriello and Babcock fought on that pick, and it went down something like this:

Now that's pure fucking bullshit if i ever heard such a thing!! Babcock spent the entire world championships in Europe talking with Matthews since he knew he would be coaching him this season. Plus the coach of a hockey team doesn't get to decide which player an organization selects. This is done by the chief scout, assistant GM and the GM. The coach has zero input in that decision.

Auston Matthews is currently having a great rookie season in Toronto. The Leafs are not 100% second-guessing themselves!!! When Matthews was drafted, 29 other NHL teams would have drafted him also. It was a no-brainer!!! Laine was also regarded as the purest scorer, but Matthews was regarded as having more potential and was a much better playmaker than Laine. Matthews is also a center and top-notch centers are a lot harder to get than wingers, which are a dime-a-dozen. Several NHL GMs recently indicated why Matthews would also have been their first pick: he was a center and quality centers are very hard to get.

Laine also has the advantage of playing on a team which was already competive and not in rebuilding mode. The Leafs started to rebuild from scratch last season and the rebuild is in year two out of five and they're already being a competitive team. Matthews already has great stats, but they likely would have been even better were he playing in Winnipeg.

Laine was compared to Alex Ovechkin when he was a junior. More of a pure goal-scorer than a playmaker. Matthews was compared to the likes of Jonathan Toews, John Tavares and other top centers around the league. But the bonus with Matthews is that he's very big, has great hands, good skating ability and he's a great individual. Laine has always struck me as being kind of nuts if you ask me. A flake.

May teams would have selected Tkachuk or Puljujarvi over Laine at #2 had they had the second overall pick. But Matthews was the 100% consensus #1 overall pick among every single team in the league. Auston Matthews is my choice to win the Calder trophy this season as the NHL's top rookie.

By the way, the Rangers suck!

 

[EagerBeaver]

You don't know what input the coach has in the player selection process. Toronto, given the amount of money they are paying Babcock, would be extremely negligent not to consult him on his thoughts about how a player would fit in his system. If the coach has zero input, especially a high paid veteran coach who has won, he is disrespected and made to feel like shit.

You need to watch the movie "Draft Day" that came out a few years ago with Kevin Costner and Denis Leary about the dynamics between a professional sports GM and coach. That movie was a realistic portrayal of exactly what happens behind the scenes. Best movie ever about the GM/coach dynamic in sports. Your analysis of zero input is simply not accurate. In all businesses experience and success of lower level employees causes them to be accorded consultation power if not decision making power and I guarantee that those consultations were had. It's reality that this happens with all sports teams. Does GM have ultimate decision, yes, but he is an idiot if he doesn't consult the coach who is experienced and successful.

 

[Doc Holliday]

You don't know what input the coach has in the player selection process. Toronto, given the amount of money they are paying Babcock, would be extremely negligent not to consult him on his thoughts about how a player would fit in his system. If the coach has zero input, especially a high paid veteran coach who has won, he is disrespected and made to feel like shit.

You need to watch the movie "Draft Day" that came out a few years ago.....

If you believe this, you don't know anything about coaching in hockey. Trust me, i know this kind of stuff. The coach has zero input on which players a team will select.

By the way, i've seen Draft Day about five times. It's a movie. It's a movie about football, not hockey. Coaches' roles in various sports differ from one another. I will say though that indeed, an NFL head coach does have input on which players are drafted. But like i said, comparing the NFL to the NHL is like comparing dicks to pussies.

 

[lgna69xxx]

Well said and completely agree. When i read STN and EB posts i literally :lol: , actually it was more like ound:

I would take Matthews 10 out of 10 times if i wee the GM on draft day last June, no brainer of a pick.

AM leads all rookies in shot attemps and is in the top 10 in the league in that dept. and if 2-3 more of those went in it would be amazing how he would be talked about right now instead of "just" being talked about as a calder trophy finalist. He has been snakebitten alot this season but that has not affected his game, he has played overall, the best out of all the rookies in the league.

Now that's pure fucking bullshit if i ever heard such a thing!! Babcock spent the entire world championships in Europe talking with Matthews since he knew he would be coaching him this season. Plus the coach of a hockey team doesn't get to decide which player an organization selects. This is done by the chief scout, assistant GM and the GM. The coach has zero input in that decision.

Auston Matthews is currently having a great rookie season in Toronto. The Leafs are not 100% second-guessing themselves!!! When Matthews was drafted, 29 other NHL teams would have drafted him also. It was a no-brainer!!! Laine was also regarded as the purest scorer, but Matthews was regarded as having more potential and was a much better playmaker than Laine. Matthews is also a center and top-notch centers are a lot harder to get than wingers, which are a dime-a-dozen. Several NHL GMs recently indicated why Matthews would also have been their first pick: he was a center and quality centers are very hard to get.

Laine also has the advantage of playing on a team which was already competive and not in rebuilding mode. The Leafs started to rebuild from scratch last season and the rebuild is in year two out of five and they're already being a competitive team. Matthews already has great stats, but they likely would have been even better were he playing in Winnipeg.

Laine was compared to Alex Ovechkin when he was a junior. More of a pure goal-scorer than a playmaker. Matthews was compared to the likes of Jonathan Toews, John Tavares and other top centers around the league. But the bonus with Matthews is that he's very big, has great hands, good skating ability and he's a great individual. Laine has always struck me as being kind of nuts if you ask me. A flake.

May teams would have selected Tkachuk or Puljujarvi over Laine at #2 had they had the second overall pick. But Matthews was the 100% consensus #1 overall pick among every single team in the league. Auston Matthews is my choice to win the Calder trophy this season as the NHL's top rookie.

By the way, the Rangers suck!

 

[jalimon]

That is why Patrick Roy is out of job, he wanted to interfere in the choice of player. Old friend Sakic said fuck off.

Cheers,

 

[EagerBeaver]

That is why Patrick Roy is out of job, he wanted to interfere in the choice of player. Old friend Sakic said fuck off.

Cheers,

It happens and Phil Esposito said in his book when he was Rangers GM the then French Canadian coach of the Rangers pestered him to acquire various players he liked one of whom was Michel Goulet who played for the Quebec Nordicques. Esposito accused the coach of favoring French players and he also told that guy to fuck off and fired his ass. But that doesn't mean coaches can't or don't give input on player acquisitions through trades or drafts. It happens. It's part of the reality of sports, these guys all have egos and they all think they have it figured out. And believe when I tell you that Babcock is a guy who believes he has it all figured out and he has been able to figure it out in the past but he wants his guys.