StarDestroyer.Net BBS

The preseason is underway and sheets of ice across North America seek to become centers of bedlam and carnage again.

The Chicago Blackhawks quest will not be easy as their team was forced into a lot of salary-cap related moves. The Penguins seem to have reloaded, and the Flyers aren't going to be overlooked this year after a few big upsets in the playoffs. Meanwhile, Alex Ovechkin still hasn't done anything of note in the postseason. Questions on the West Coast as people wonder if the Sharks' window is coming to a close.

For Ducks fans like myself the offseason was very interesting. After a respectable draft and the retirement of Scott Niedermayer we did get Saku Koivu, Teemu Selanne, and Bobby Ryan to re-sign with the team and Luca Sbisa is going to be up with us now after spending some time tuning up in juniors last year.

I'm cautiously optimistic about getting one of the lower playoff seeds in the West but the division is likely to be quite brutal again (except for Dallas, mwahahahaha).

Saw part of the Leafs preseason game...it was ugly, I doubt we'll make the playoffs this year. Sure the preseason is rarely an accurate indication of how the team will do later on, but still, it was sad, it was like the players were just skating around to collect a paycheck. I think I'll cheer for Montreal or something this year.

Hey now half of my favorite past their prime players are leafs now?

The Canucks new goalie pickup Eddie Lack looks like a great acquisition so far and he seems to really love playing for Vancouver from what little I've seen. Another player to watch looks to be Aaron Volpatti, he might slot into our bottom six this season. Schroeder and Shirokov look decent so far, and I hope we'll get to see Hodgson this preseason.

Eddie Lack meet Curtis Painter (Indianapolis Colts backup Quarterback).

Seriously, playing behind Luongo in net? I hope for the Nucks' sake that he is good enough that they feel Luongo can take one or two games off this year.

Attended my first and only preseason game of the year tonight, watching the Ducks clobber the Sharks 5-2. YEah it means dick all but I think San Jose has serious goaltending issues heading into the year that potentially derail their chances for getting a top seed again.

Jonas Hiller looked goooooood.

Keep an eye on Cam Fowler to potentially see time with the big club this year instead of heading back to juniors.

Caps basically can't prove shit until the playoffs so the interest going into the season is purely in who nabs the 2C spot and how much of a difference having Alzner, Carlson, Varly and Neuvirth all on the roster full time makes. Penguins have made a few changes, Devils have added Kovy and Tampa Bay looks a bit stronger too. Interesting times in the East.

PS: Added enjoyment is Calgary's continued descent into self parody.

Darth Fanboy wrote:Eddie Lack meet Curtis Painter (Indianapolis Colts backup Quarterback).

Seriously, playing behind Luongo in net? I hope for the Nucks' sake that he is good enough that they feel Luongo can take one or two games off this year.

Lack is actually our third string goalie playing for our AHL team, Cory Schneider who signed a two year extension this off season is his backup this season. He's played damn fine in the preseason though, so depending on what he shows this season on the farm we may try to move Schneider for next year leaving him with a year left at a good cap hit.

I haven't been impressed with the Sharks' offseason moves. Ditching Nabokov was necessary, but we didn't replace him with anybody but spare parts. We could've had Zbynek Michalek for barely more than we're paying Nick Wallin, who's a liability even as a depth defenseman.

He won't be playing for the NHL Flyers this year, but Sergei Bobrovsky impressed me against the Leafs. For a 22-year-old player who had never played on NHL-size ice, and doesn't yet speak enough English to coordinate his defense, he was really good. His positioning needs work (which is normal for European goalies coming to the NHL), but his athleticism is ridiculous.

And...um...I take back the "he won't be playing" part, but now I'm even more impressed by Bobrovsky. Yeah, he made a couple puckhandling errors, but the dude's got some serious talent.

Flyers showed something, but I thought Colorado showed something as well. They need some polishing so they don't give up late leads but the Avs could be back in a major way even more so than last season.

Darth Fanboy wrote:Flyers showed something, but I thought Colorado showed something as well. They need some polishing so they don't give up late leads but the Avs could be back in a major way even more so than last season.

Flyers showed they need Chris Pronger back . To my eyes, Mez looked like the worst of our defenders. O'Donnell and Bartulis also had some minor gaffes, but I'd rather have either of them at this point, for a blue line of Pronger, Coburn, Timonen, Carle, O'Donnell, and Bartulis.

The lack of production from the CCR line would be a concern, except that they were generally matched against Crosby/Malkin, so they were focused more on shutting down the Pens than on offense. Giroux's takeaway goal was just ridiculous.

I also found it funny when they mentioned Bartulis being more valuable while Bob was playing goal, because Bartulis actually knows Russian (Bobrovsky doesn't speak English). Bob looked good except for the one bad giveaway (dropping the puck and shoveling it out into traffic) and the equipment malfunction that made the first goal easier (best theory is he lost an edge at some point by sliding into the pipe). His positioning's still really bad on the wide-angle shots, and it's his athleticism that's saving him, but that can be fixed now that he actually has a goalie coach to help him adjust to the wider ice.

The announcers on TSN said we'd never believe it, and I still don't. Four time Lady Byng winner Pavel Datsyuk scores a Gordie Howe hat trick vs the Ducks. Really.

So Caps get stupid for one game then torch NJ out of spite in the next one. Its going to be interesting if that sort of game to game shift comes around again this year (playing down or up to the opposition).

Doesn't matter if he's a Byng Trophy winner or the next incarnation of Ghandi, the Ducks (especially Perry) can get ANYONE to fight.

NOw if we could just score some fuckin' goals....

For those of you who haven't seen the obscene gesture James Wiznewski made at Sean Avery the other night...



I understand why het got the suspension but that's too damn funny for me to be pissed.

It will be interesting to see how long Rypien is going to be suspended for. I assume some form of anger management is going to be mandatory before he comes back, and a hefty chunk of salary is going to go bye bye too.

Darth Fanboy wrote:For those of you who haven't seen the obscene gesture James Wiznewski made at Sean Avery the other night...

Well, he is one for sure! Avery that is.


Sadly I've missed every game so far this year, I haven't had any time to watch TV let alone any sports for months. And somehow the Leafs are on top of their division? I must be hallucinating, surely that can't be right...

Ouch.

The Devils' Ilya Kovalchuk was a $100 million healthy scratch against the Sabres.

To make things worse, they lost 6-1, bringing in Martin Brodeur (who was scheduled to have a rest day) after giving up 4 goals on 15 shots midway through the second period. Only to have Brodeur give up 2 more goals on the next 14. If I'm running the Devils, I might be thinking about (yet another) early coaching replacement. This has all the hallmarks of a team that's not hearing the message.

On a side-note, if I'm Ilya Kovalchuk, I don't understand how it's supposed to discipline me. I'm getting $100 million to sit and watch the game? On the other hand, I'm watching the Devils. Might not be worth it.

The Canucks are getting back on track with the return of Burrows and Ballard to the lineup, the Sedins scoring at over a point a game isn't hurting either though.


Also, I'm just curious who everybody here cheers for? I know we have at least one Ducks fan and my team's pretty obviously the Vancouver Canucks.

Caps.

They were the shittest team in NHL 07, and I always used to play them against my mates to give them an advantage. I always scored with this guy on the fourth line called Ovechkin and then one day I punched his name into YouTube and after that I had a team.

I'm a red wings fan myself.

Speaking of the Red Wings, I miss Darth Garden Gnome.

The Ducks/Wings playoff series is probaly my favorite moment in SDNet history.

Was it the 08-09 series? Cause damn that one was brutal. I guess you mean the 06-07 series though.