The Ditch part deux

2010, g/g at 5.531. Crosby had 51 and 109 7.368 g/g in 2010. 145 pts projected linearly. Of course the number would most likely be bigger than a linear projection for most top line players.

 

jury is still out IMO, I think CJ being the best reciever in the league has as much to do with that than anything. and last years #'s werent exactly good QB #'s. Megatron could make Harrington look good

 

.....k maybe not Harrington

 

I dont recall any 40 or 30 goal seasons from John Scott. and I dont see how the hitting has anything to do with scoring. I do think free agency played a part along with goalie pads but the fact that the rules and how the refs called the game were as condusive to scoring as anything. lets not forget the forwards in the 80's didnt even know what backchecking meant. the defensemen were always left out to dry

 

it is officially the offseason Bob , should we have our annual Bettman is a douche debate

 

Penguins extened Kunitz 3 years at $3.38million/yr on the average. Thats a really good signing imo. He had a super solid season for the Pens.

Still wonder what happens to Letang.

 

Just in:

 

Hoping for something like $6.5 x 6. That's Carey Price money and Tuukka is definitely in that group. Not sure which goalies in the league I'd rather have. More than capable of stealing games he came close this year on a good Bruins team. I value the goaltender position more than you 2 guys so I believe its not a Tuukka question but a paying your goalie one.

And RW69, you're right on about the Bruins hypothetically losing to Toronto. Tuukka would make far less but he wouldn't have had the opportunity to shut down the Pens the way that he did. No one has ever done that to Pitt.

2 U's, 2 K's, 2 wins short.

 

Didn't see that coming. Good move for TB though. Wish that deal to Mtl happened years back. Now assuming he signs in Mtl on the cheap.

 

And RW69, you're right on about the Bruins hypothetically losing to Toronto. Tuukka would make far less but he wouldn't have had the opportunity to shut down the Pens the way that he did. No one has ever done that to Pitt.

Matty you're right, the Pens never get shut down like that. But I guess the real question and one we can't definitively answer is how much of that was Rask and how much of that was because of the Bruins system and defense? There were extended stretches in those games where the Pens looked so lost out there you have to give the Bruins system and defensive play huge props for what they did to the Pens.

Personally I'm not big on paying goalies big money and never have been. And normally for me goalies being paid big money to play on great defensive teams with almost perfectly run systems is taboo. I just wouldn't do it because I think teams like this can make a bad goalie look good and a good goalie look like a star. Look at Jimmy Howard for example. When I heard the Wings were going to pay him what they ended up paying him I was pissed. I hated tying up that kind of money in a goalie. The only thing that changed my mind a little bit is the fact he was great in the playoffs with in my opinion a very suspect defense in front of him. A rookie ( Brenden Smith) was just learning the ropes. Kindl who was never in the Wings top 6 in the playoffs in previous years was suddenly getting significant minutes. I am not a very big fan of Quincey either. Yet he put the Wings in position where one lucky bounce in game 7 in O.T against the Hawks and they would have made the conference finals.

I'll admit Rask is getting a bum deal from people like myself who don't want to see him get big money because it's not his fault he's on a good team. That sort of puts him in a no win situation because had he sucked he doesn't get paid. If he does well many will say the team was the reason for his success. It took an old goalie they called Ozzie 400 wins and multiple cups to convince some people that he deserves praise for his success. I think it's going to take Rask some time to do the same thing.

 

Yeah. I just read that on CBS too. Holy crap !!! The guy is probably only going to stay healthy for around 65 games but as long as he's available for the playoffs that's still going to be some good production for whoever picks him up.

Montreal makes the most sense and they have the cap space but I can't see him being cheap at all. He's taking a big cut in pay with this buyout so I'm sure he's going to sign with somebody for some big money. I keep bringing up Grabovski in almost all of my examples because when a guy like that gets 5.5 million per season long term you gotta think it'll be more then that for Lecavalier. Weiss is supposed to sign for around that or more too. In my opinion Lecavalier for 65 games is a better option then either of those players are.

 

Kyle Quincey = teh suck

 

I remember when the owner of the Lightning said after they drafted Vinny that "he was gonna be the Michael Jordan of hockey".........closer to Steve Kerr

 

My point is that Sutter probably couldn't score 30 any more. He was a very slow and poor skater overall. The overall talent in the game now is far superior. Denis Savard and his buddies used to smoke in the lockerroom before and after games in the 80s for example. Different standard and a lower standard for quite a few roster slots around the league.

My point about hitting was that they let the hits get nasty, past the point of playing hockey. It was fun for a while but then it just turned into guys just running people on an unprecedented level, and then teams had to build to counter the hitting instead of playing hockey. Many of the hits violated the written rules at the time if I recall, had they been applied a little more stringently I think many things would have evolved differently.

No kidding about goalie pads, I agree about the backchecking too, I think that has to do with speed and conditioning as well.

Anyway, I loved hockey before, I love watching hockey now. I think now has better talent, better players, and a better game overall with a few exceptions.

 

We'll have to wait a few weeks. My heart isn't in it with all the trading, buyouts, and other moves coming up the next 3 weeks.

 

Fair contract, cost effective contract. I think it was the right move.

 

Price money is fair. My issue has more to do with Boston's system, I think It inflates the goalie numbers immensely. He's worth 6 imo, but not worth 6mil of Boston's cap space, if that makes sense. Most rosters, give him 6. I just think it's almost redundant in Boston.

 

Vinny plays physical Cutter, I thought you would like him.

Coaches burned him out. Too many years of playing overly aggressive getting too many tough assignments.
The decline has been terrible to watch.

I thought TB would wait a year.

I'm thinking Yzerman is going to make a move for Stewart, JVR, Phaneuf, Statsny, or another big name floating around. No reason to buyout Vinny now unless they want to make a splash elsewhere. St. Louis is older, have to take advantage.
Rumor is he's shopping Malone too...Kenny?

 

Bolland is being shopped. Hawks fans are not happy with me about that.
Olesz and Montador are buyouts.

So much going on.

 

I love this offseason already, besides the MY cup win.
I'm freakin pumped and it's not going to disappoint this year. No baseball for me this summer.. .and that's AWSUM!
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