NHL 2011-2012 Thread

[Xaios]

Well, 5 game suspension for Marchand.

There's one guy on the Boston section of HFboards spouting on about how this ruling "violates the rule of law," "completely changes the NHL," and that it's time to "Occupy Hockey."

I wanted to tell him to go grab his Guy Fawkes mask and camp outside NHL headquarters.

 

[Psyy]

I was a bit surprised at the length of the suspension, but I feel it's deserved. Marchand needs to back up; he's a perfectly skilled hockey player who doesn't need attitude to do well, like some do.

 

[TheDivineWing22]

According to the Pens report, both Neal and Adams said they are good to play tonight against Ottawa.

I'm kind of confused on how it went from Bylsma saying Neal will be out for "weeks not days" to Neal practicing with Malkin and Kunitz for the game tonight.

I'm not complaining as long as he is really ready and doesn't end up screwing it up more than it is already. *cough* Big Ben *cough*

 

[technomancer]

Yeah I was amazed when I saw that... then again maybe it turned out to be a minor fracture the docs decided he could play with. The Pens aren't an organization that seems to let guys play hurt when it can injure them worse.

Also I was pleased to see they FINALLY dropped the hammer on a Boston player

 

[JeffFromMtl]

Cammalleri, a 5th rounder and Karri Ramo to Calgary for Rene Bourque, a 2nd rounder in 2013 and prospect Patrick Holland.

Mixed feelings on the deal. Cammalleri seems to have turned bitter in his time in Montreal, throwing the team under the bus for having a "losing mentality", while seemingly giving up on the game himself. He had a few incidents here in which I thought his actions were questionable, and I never really liked him that much, but the guy's money in the playoffs and given a good set-up man can shoot the puck like only a handful of guys in the NHL. Rene Bourque brings size and grit, along with a solid guarantee for 20-30 goals per season but again, is a guy that has done some questionable things, and is currently serving a 5-game suspension. Cammalleri or Bourque? I'd take Cammy any day of the week, but it just wasn't working here, I guess.

Holland is doing a good job racking up points in the WHL right now, and is in the top 10 or 15 in pts, but also consider he's playing for the best team in the league, and is 3rd in pts on the team. His numbers are probably inflated due to the quality of his teammates. After all, he was a 7th-round pick. There have been a few guys taken that late to turn up the heat and play solid careers in the NHL, but I won't bank on it. The 2nd rounder in 2013 is also a bit of an odd move. If the pick were this year, it would have made more sense, as the Flames are near the bottom of the league, and could have been a 30-something overall pick, but who knows what might happen next year.

And lastly, what really gets under my skin about the trade is this tweet by Pierre LeBrun:

Real_ESPNLeBrun
One NHL GM when told of the trade, said he wished he knew Cammalleri was available. Would have made an offer.

If I were ownership, I would be irate right now. If you're shopping a player of that caliber, how do you not make it known around the league? I'm positive Gauthier could have gotten a better return on Cammalleri if he were doing his job properly. To me, it just seems that he took the first offer he got, to get Cammalleri and his bad attitude out of the locker room as soon as possible. It just reminds me of the whole Patrick Roy deal back in the day. How could Thibault have possibly been the best return they could get for a perennial all-star goaltender who would still go on to win some Stanley Cups and ultimately be in the hall-of-fame. The GM is the one with all the power, I don't know how they let players with bad attitudes get to them so much that they make such hasty and brash decisions.

 

[Unknown Doodl3.2]

^Don't you think you're pushing a bit with the Roy trade comparison? It's not like Rene Bourque is a broken stick and a skate blade

As far as the tweet by Lebrun, my view is "so what". It's always easy to say something like that once a trade is actually done. Feaster and Gauthier had been working on this one since December, so at the very worst Cammalleri's media stunt accelerated something already brewing. There's also his salary to keep in mind; we just freed up almost 3,5 million in cap space while apparently replacing if not improving on Cammi's regular season output. What could we have gotten that was so much better than what we're getting now? Only one that comes to mind is Bobby Ryan, but we probably would have to give up something else... Maybe Ryan Clowe, but I don't know how untouchable or not he is in San Jose.

In the end, on paper Calgary definitely got the better deal, but within the context of either team, only time will tell but I'm relatively optimistic about Bourque.

 

[TheDivineWing22]

And the Penguins losing streak is over!!!

 

[technomancer]

And the Penguins losing streak is over!!!

Was just about to post that Was also glad to see them snap it against a division leader and not a bottom 8 team

 

[TheDivineWing22]

Mike Milbury and Keith Jones were comparing Malkin ducking Lecavalier's check yesterday to the Marchand/ Salo incident.

I don't see how you can call what Malkin did a low bridge. The Lecavalier was just pissed that Malkin made him look silly.

 

[Unknown Doodl3.2]

Milbury's not known for his highly intelligent opinions/arguments >.>

 

[technomancer]

Milbury is a moron... there is no comparison between ducking a check against the boards and deliberately hip checking somebody in the knees.

 

[TheDivineWing22]

Huge win tonight for the Penguins! Nice to see this win streak after dropping six in a row.

And Kris Letang leading the team for time on ice on his first game back? Insane.

 

[Sofos]

good catch up by Bruins. ive never seen a team other than this (and last year's) Bruins play so well during the 3rd period.

 

[Psyy]

Not really a Malkin fan, but holy shit.

 

[Vostre Roy]

I was back from my bowling game (yup, bowling). Had a couple of beer down, came back to my appartement thinking "Oh well, lets see how the Wings demolished the Habs". The guy with who I share the appartement tell me to guess the score, with a huge smile in the face. Jokingly, I say "4-0 Habs?". He respond "Nope, 6-0 Habs". Check the score and realise this is true, and that the 2nd period is not even finished. Open a new can of beer and watched the third period. 7-2, holy shit, think that the Wings thought that it would be an easy one and the Habs catched the occasion. So few good victories this season, gotta enjoy that one

 

[technomancer]

Yeah unbelievable game by the Habs

Also got a HUGE laugh out of Ovechkin not going to the All Stars because he's pissed he got suspended and being replace by Neal

 

[troyguitar]

Datsyuk = first pick in the all star draft despite no commentator even mentioning his name as a possibility. That made my night.

 

[Unknown Doodl3.2]

Datsyuk is a fucking beast. period.

If Kovalev could out-deke anyone in a phone booth, Datsyuk can probably do it while ironing his jersey.

 

[Unknown Doodl3.2]

Speaking of Kovalev

 

[TheDivineWing22]

Figured I'd comment on last nights Pens game. The Pens did not deserve to win last night, but on the flipside, maybe Toronto didn't either. Letting them score 3 goals to catch up was a little ridiculous.

And despite letting up four goals, Fleury looked good. I don't know if I've ever seen such a good performance while letting up 4 goals.

Let's go for 9 tonight!