NHL 2010-2011: Rick Rypien

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Training Camps open September 17th, getting closer!

Questions for the Season:

1) How far will Chicago fall with a cup hangover?

2) Will Phoenix announce plans to relocate to Winnipeg?

3) Where are the Islanders going?

4) Where is Kovalchuk going? New Jersey

5) What will happen with the Sun Belt teams: Florida, Tampa, Atlanta- Atlanta to Winnipeg

6) How much more sexist can I make this thread opener?

7) Would you bet the Toronto Maple Leafs or the Field to place last overall?

8) Ovechkin: Put up or SHUT UP (Cup related)?

9) Would you bet Detroit Red Wings or the Field to win the Cup?

10) Biggest disappointment?

11) Financial ruins approaches for: Atlanta, Phoenix, New Jersey, New York Islanders, Buffalo, Florida Panthers

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Atlantic Division:

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I don't expect Chicago to do well this season. With the number of cuts they've had to make to get under the cap, their Cup-winning team has proven to be a fortuitous one-off.

My biggest question is this: without cable or satellite, how can I view in-market games? NHL's Gamecenter promises to give me out-of-market games, but I'm not all that interested in watching teams other than the Avs. Do I just need to move in with Coldstream for a season?

Or stay up late and watch the 1 minute league wrap-up tossed randomly on ESPN 5.

Moving over from the love thread..

nihilo wrote:
Roke wrote:

I'm in sport nerd heaven. First the Major league Baseball financial leaks and now I've found 6 statistic-based hockey blogs which I was oblivious to until yesterday.

Wait, stats based hockey blogs? Any good ones?

Behind the Net is the best one for general metrics stuff. I've been following it for about a year.
Behind the Net's stats site companion to the blog. The layout is meh but there's a lot of good stuff there. GVT is probably the most accessible statistic there.
Puck Prospectus Not exactly a blog, but I've been reading them for about a year as well. Some good stuff although I wish they had more content.
MC79 is fairly Oiler-centric and delves into the business end a fair bit. Your mileage may vary.
Objective NHL seems to be okay, though on what looks like a summer hiatus.
Hockey or Die is more of a general blog but does have the occasional metric-based post.
From the Rink is a general blog, but has statistic posts fairly often.
Brodeur is a Fraud The name is terrible, the crusade against Brodeur can be tiring at times, but the goaltending analysis is the best I've seen.
Irrelevant Oiler Fans. Less about the Oilers than the title implies.

I left out a couple that aren't very active.

Now, there's some introductory stuff out there to make the reading easier.

1) NHL stats analysis FAQ in 10 parts.
2) Puck prospectus has 3-parts on GVT (Goals Versus Threshold) Part 1, part 2, part 3.

GVT is the easiest to understand, though I would not want to calculate it. It breaks a player's contribution to goal differential into Offensive, Defensive, and Shootout components. It does goaltenders very highly as compared to most skaters and I'm not comfortable with that.

On a personal note, every stat I've come across confirms my belief that Tom Pyatt was absolutely horrible last year. Him in the Habs' lineup is going to be incredibly frustrating, unless he somehow turns things around.

1) How far will Chicago fall with a cup hangover? Pretty far, considering they gave up on goaltending and brutally overpay for their defensemen. Their offense is still strong, though. Maybe not cup winning, but to be taken seriously, for sure. I don't think they'll fall far in the Central Division. The conference is a different story, though.

2) Will Phoenix announce plans to relocate to Winnipeg? Nope. Uncle Gary will not allow this team to go back to Canada. Shame.

3) Where are the Islanders going? To the Stanley Cup. Bwahahahaaaa, Oh jeez, I can't do that with a straight face. hehehehe

4) Where is Kovalchuk going? He's staying in New Jersey. It wouldn't really be right for him to sign a large contract elsewhere after all that's happened. But, right isn't always how things end.....

5) What will happen with the Sun Belt teams: Florida, Tampa, Atlanta? Florida? They'll continue to be close but no cigars. A lot of hope at the half-way point. Just enough to give the true Panther fans another bit of heartache. Tampa? Stevie Y is in up in the box, now. I'm really interested to see what he does in his first year as GM. He's already made some really promising moves (not to mention his success as Team Canada's GM). Atlanta? No clue. Who even plays for them, anymore? Hopefully Evander Kane knocks Matt Cooke out, again. If he manages that, I'll consider it a successful year for the Thrashers.

6) How much more sexist can I make this thread opener? Much much more. There is plenty of room all over this thread to fit some more jersey-sporting womens in here. Pile 'em in.

7) Would you bet the Toronto Maple Leafs or the Field to place last overall? It's always interesting to see who collapses each year. This year could be Atlanta, Carolina, or Florida's year. I think Brian Burke is crazy, but sometimes crazy works. He's made "interesting" moves up there. Let's see if players like Phaneuf and Kessel step up.

8) Ovechkin: Put up or shut up (Cup related)? I think Ovechkin is proof that one man cannot win the cup. It takes a team. As much as the league would like to throw Crosby or Gretzky's face all over their teams' cup winning years, it wasn't them alone. Washington fell apart as a team in the playoffs just as much as they won as a team in the regular season.

9) Would you bet Detroit Red Wings or the Field to win the Cup? I would love for the Wings to win another cup. What can I say, hockey is one of the only things I am unapologetically greedy in. I love the Wings, I love the Cup. Will they win, this year? They'll put out a scary showing, but might not go all the way. Looking down the line-up, though, this is one of the best Red Wings teams in years. But, knagging injuries and a big question as to whether Howard can continue to play at this level still hang over their heads.

10) Biggest disappointment? Pittsburgh in another Winter Classic.

11) Financial ruins approaches for: _________________ Phoenix is in trouble. Plain and simple. They've sold something like 1800 season ticket packages. And supposedly that's up from last year.

Canucks signed Raffi Torres. I am disappoint.

Vector wrote:

Canucks signed Raffi Torres. I am disappoint.

I'm saddened. My wife is going to be furious, she hates Torres.

I was desperately hoping the Habs would sign Torres, but that's just because I hate Tom Pyatt and want to see him in the AHL where he isn't hurting the team. Ditto Mathieu Darche. Ditto probably Ryan White. This hockey season is a countdown to tears at the Habs' 4th line.

Edit: I need to stop harping on Tom Pyatt... it's going to become a personal meme at some point.

Gravey wrote:
Vector wrote:

Canucks signed Raffi Torres. I am disappoint.

I'm saddened. My wife is going to be furious, she hates Torres.

I do too. I like your wife. I should bring you guys over to watch a game sometime. Or take you to a game. Who knows.

I like Tom Pyatt but that's because I was hoping the Habs would get more out the Gomez trade than just Gomez.

Roke wrote:

Behind the Net is the best one for general metrics stuff. I've been following it for about a year.
Behind the Net's stats site companion to the blog. The layout is meh but there's a lot of good stuff there. GVT is probably the most accessible statistic there.
Puck Prospectus Not exactly a blog, but I've been reading them for about a year as well. Some good stuff although I wish they had more content.
MC79 is fairly Oiler-centric and delves into the business end a fair bit. Your mileage may vary.
Objective NHL seems to be okay, though on what looks like a summer hiatus.
Hockey or Die is more of a general blog but does have the occasional metric-based post.
From the Rink is a general blog, but has statistic posts fairly often.
Brodeur is a Fraud The name is terrible, the crusade against Brodeur can be tiring at times, but the goaltending analysis is the best I've seen.
Irrelevant Oiler Fans. Less about the Oilers than the title implies.

Pshaw. There's only one hockey blog that needs to be read - the sexy and very NSFW Four Habs Fans.

Roke wrote:

Moving over from the love thread..

nihilo wrote:
Roke wrote:

I'm in sport nerd heaven. First the Major league Baseball financial leaks and now I've found 6 statistic-based hockey blogs which I was oblivious to until yesterday.

Wait, stats based hockey blogs? Any good ones?

Lots of stuff..

Thanks Roke! I'll add it to my pile of reading.

Is there any interest from Goodjers for doing a fantasy hockey league this year? I usually fill in my desire for more fantasy hockey with random leagues, but if we could get something going around here, that'd be cool.

Vector wrote:
Gravey wrote:
Vector wrote:

Canucks signed Raffi Torres. I am disappoint.

I'm saddened. My wife is going to be furious, she hates Torres.

I do too. I like your wife. I should bring you guys over to watch a game sometime. Or take you to a game. Who knows.

A GWJ Canucks booze-up sounds like a great idea to me.

Gravey wrote:
Vector wrote:
Gravey wrote:
Vector wrote:

Canucks signed Raffi Torres. I am disappoint.

I'm saddened. My wife is going to be furious, she hates Torres.

I do too. I like your wife. I should bring you guys over to watch a game sometime. Or take you to a game. Who knows.

A GWJ Canucks booze-up sounds like a great idea to me.

I don't think I've ever seen more beautiful words put together.

Here's my pre-season list so far.

1.) DEREK BOOGARD?
2.) SERIOUSLY, DEREK BOOGARD?
3.) FOR HOW MUCH?
4.) I HATE YOU GLEN SATHER
5.) AAAAAAAGH

When I saw that I texted my friend. He nearly crashed his car from laughing so hard.

1) How far will Chicago fall with a cup hangover?

They have a lot of talent in key places still, but lost some good people. They'll still contend for the cup though.

2) Will Phoenix announce plans to relocate to Winnipeg?

Nope.

3) Where are the Islanders going?

Wang is a terrible owner, and he talks about moving, but I think the NHL will try stop him. That's a franchise that has had success and it would be embarrassing to see them go.

4) Where is Kovalchuk going?

I think he'll stay in New Jersey, but he'll take a pay cut. Nobody is going to give him the money he wants.

5) What will happen with the Sun Belt teams: Florida, Tampa, Atlanta?

Florida will just miss the playoffs. Tampa won't turn it around in a year, there are some cultural things going on there. Atlanta will do surprisingly well without Kovalchuk, or anybody recognizable.

6) How much more sexist can I make this thread opener?

I've seen better.

7) Would you bet the Toronto Maple Leafs or the Field to place last overall?

It can't be worse than last year. It won't. Giguere is a pro and will finally give us some stability in net. These last couple of seasons in Toronto may have ended Toskala's career. The kids are young enough not to know they are supposed to fail. The hype machine in Toronto is going to be running full bore though. Burke and Wilson will do their best to deflect media pressure away from him, but I don't think Phaneuf is the person you want as the captain of the Leafs.

8) Ovechkin: Put up or shut up (Cup related)?

Yup. He's amazing, everyone knows it, but you need post season success to be truly considered successful.

9) Would you bet Detroit Red Wings or the Field to win the Cup?

The field. I don't know if the Red Wings are the oldest team in the NHL, but their best players are getting up there. Modano is just more of the same. That said, if they have the personnel to play their system, I'd take them against pretty much anyone on a given night.

10) Biggest disappointment?

Does Calgary count? Are Jokinen and Tanguay going to improve anything? I don't see that team going anywhere, though I love Iginla and hope they see some success.

11) Financial ruins approaches for: _________________

Phoenix, as always.

Prederick wrote:

Here's my pre-season list so far.

1.) DEREK BOOGARD?
2.) SERIOUSLY, DEREK BOOGARD?
3.) FOR HOW MUCH?
4.) I HATE YOU GLEN SATHER
5.) AAAAAAAGH

Prederick, if you want to feel any worse, read this: http://www.coppernblue.com/2010/7/29...

nihilo wrote:

8) Ovechkin: Put up or shut up (Cup related)?

Yup. He's amazing, everyone knows it, but you need post season success to be truly considered successful.

Just ask Joe Thornton.

I think this is the 3rd one:

NEW YORK (AP)—NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly says the New Jersey Devils have submitted a new contract to the league for Russian star Ilya Kovalchuk(notes).

The league has five days to approve or reject the deal, which media reports say amounts to $100 million over 15 years. A month ago, the NHL rejected a 17-year, $102 million contract for Kovalchuk, saying it violated the league salary cap.

After the rejection, the NHL Players Association filed a grievance and the league’s decision was upheld by an arbiter.

The 27-year-old Russian left wing has 338 goals and 304 assists in 642 career games. He had 41 goals and 44 assists last season. New Jersey traded him to Atlanta in February.

...
"Sources" say this contract should pass.

Price has reportedly signed with the Habs for 2 years, in a 5.5 million contract - 2.25 million a year. Niemi signed with the Sharks for 1 year at 2 million a year.

Gauthier is clearly continuing Gainey's love on for Price, but I have to wonder how Price is making more money this year than Niemi, given how they both played last year. It seems wild to me that they couldn't sign price for $2 million a year, maybe less.

It's not really fair to compare any RFA contract to the Niemi situation. Niemi is kind of an odd duck in that he's a Stanley Cup winning goalie that wasn't a key part of the reason they won. He was good enough but expendable (like Mike Vernon for Detroit). He's young but not as young as you may think (27). He was only interested in signing a short term low cap-hit situation in order to prove himself as a viable winning starter. Gauthier signed Price to a fair 2-year low cap hit (2.75 for a young starter is a good number) that when it ends he will still be a UFA. When Niemi's contract is done he can set his price and walk away. The hope is that Price continues to develop and allowing him to be the de facto starter will aid that. And really, they had no other options. In San Jose Niemi sticks with a team he has played many times before, in a city he's been to, and on a proven successful team.

Also, this years goalie market was saturated. Turco, Ellis, Mason, Biron, Nittymaki, Nabokov, and eventually Niemi were all available. Nabokov left because no one would pay him what he wanted. The rest signed short-term low money deals hoping that the market is better next year.

Roke wrote:
Prederick wrote:

Here's my pre-season list so far.

1.) DEREK BOOGARD?
2.) SERIOUSLY, DEREK BOOGARD?
3.) FOR HOW MUCH?
4.) I HATE YOU GLEN SATHER
5.) AAAAAAAGH

Prederick, if you want to feel any worse, read this: http://www.coppernblue.com/2010/7/29...

I just started reading the article and although I agree with it's overal premise there are some errors in the paragraph about the Flyers. Carcillo and Powe have been known to fight but neither are really fighters. Closer to grinders and pests. They're also fairly small and light. Riley Cote isn't a very good hockey player and retired about a month ago. The Shelley signing doesn't make sense but because the Flyers already had 3 goons.

Edit: Kept reading. The same goes for the Blackhawks regarding Scott. He's a big goon and isn't that great but they needed defensive depth and valued his durability and toughness. Tim Jackman and Ivanans in Calgary is stupid. I like Ivanans but only because he's a European goon and those are rare. He's not a good hockey player. Jackman is capable of skating a regular shift and being a physical forechecker. He's a good utility player.

Kovalchuk is a Devil. Who would'a thought? I thought he was KHL-bound. Of course, accepting this contract and 4 others under question leads to possibility of more labor issues to come with the league.

Northeast Division:
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NJ gets a $3 million fine and loses 2 picks over 4 years. Lamoriello says they acted in good faith and there's nothing more to say. I think this deal was the decision of Vanderbeek so he would have star power in the final few seasons Marty will be around.

Donald Fehr is in charge of the NHLPA, so no hockey for the next CBA?

Seven Days until the first pre-season games!

MaxShrek wrote:

Northeast Division:

Looks about right
- Boston girls look ready to start a fight
- Ottawa has a non-threatening vanilla girl next door
- Montreal girl looks about ready to take off her jersey the next time an Ole chant starts up
- Toronto girls are totally absent

I'm sure we can find a better Buffalo girl than that, though? Those two are scary.

I'm really looking forward to this season. Montreal remains an enigma - which team are they, the regular season team of inconsistent misfits, or the playoff team of world-beaters? I suspect a lot will depend on the team's confidence in Price and the mood in the room. Fortunately it seems they have a really good leadership group.

Edmonton will be fun to watch as well, for the first time in a long time. A better group of prospects at forward you will not find anywhere, though they'll still lose enough games due to poor defense and goaltending to earn a high draft pick. I'm hoping for blueliner Adam Larsson, myself.

It's funny, I'm a huge hockey fan but can't bring myself to play the NHL games anymore. At some point they left me behind. Oh well.

This is a very dumb question, I know, but: NHL's GameCenter Live says that you can stream up to 40 "non-local" games per week. I assume that this would preclude me from using it to watch Avalanche games as a Colorado resident? Would that just be their home games or all of their games?

Also, any tips on a nice, non-piratey place to stream NHL games?

ClockworkHouse wrote:

This is a very dumb question, I know, but: NHL's GameCenter Live says that you can stream up to 40 "non-local" games per week. I assume that this would preclude me from using it to watch Avalanche games as a Colorado resident? Would that just be their home games or all of their games?

Also, any tips on a nice, non-piratey place to stream NHL games?

Non-pirate streaming? I can't really help you. In Canada, CBC streams all of their broadcasts live (so awesome), but TSN and CTV Sportsnet do not. I don't know if your local Colorado broadcaster streams their games live or provides a service where you can pay to stream their games live. Yahoo streams a few NHL games, but they've cut back on that, so its sporadic at best.

I'm really looking forward to this season, if only because as a Leafs fan this is when hopes tend to be highest (before reality gets in the way). If we get some good goaltending, we can settle things down and play our system. There are some big holes up front, in that we don't really have a first line centre, but who knows? Maybe Nazem Kadri will step up and have a great rookie year. I'm looking forward to seeing Komisarek play again, healthy this time. And really, just want to see our young talent develop some more.

Who knows? Maybe I'll even get to see a winning season this year.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

This is a very dumb question, I know, but: NHL's GameCenter Live says that you can stream up to 40 "non-local" games per week. I assume that this would preclude me from using it to watch Avalanche games as a Colorado resident? Would that just be their home games or all of their games?

As a Colorado resident I would assume it would preclude you from watching all of their games. Teams have "blackout regions" that vary, and if you're within that region, the only way you get to watch that game is on it's local broadcast or if it's being broadcast nationally. It gets pretty messy for teams close to each other, too.

Also, any tips on a nice, non-piratey place to stream NHL games?

Nope. I know some, but they're all piratey. And even on the ones you pay for, the quality varies.

I'm assuming you're like me and don't have cable, in which case, welcome to the club of the frustrated sports fan. GameCenter is especially bad in terms of the value and quality it offers when compared to, say, MLB.com.

I think the most "right" thing to do would be to subscribe to Gamecenter to give NHL some money and then either spoof your IP to something out of your region, which will let you watch Avs games, or use a pirated service to watch those games knowing that you've given NHL your money anyways.

That being said, I firmly believe sports leagues need to be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century and their current pricing and blackout restrictions for online content is absolutely pathetic (apart from MLB). Of course, they are also somewhat at the mercy of broadcasters and cable companies here.

As such, your moral position on the issue of free sports streaming may be somewhat more nuanced than it might otherwise be were there reasonable alternatives in place.

Anecdote: RDS is the broadcaster of Canadiens games. For the past couple of years you've been able to buy packages to stream their playoff games online. (With no regional restrictions!!) They were reasonably priced and of high quality. One recent season, they offered the same streaming service (again with no blackouts) for 80$ per year, or about a dollar a game. Very reasonable and high quality.

This lasted for one year and then went away without any explanation. I don't think they even stream playoff games anymore. My personal belief is that the cable companies had a fit and RDS, as a TV station as well as a website, caved.

Yes, I don't have cable.

I'm considering the IP spoofing, but I'm resentful of having to jump through hoops like that in order to watch games. It's not that I consider myself somehow entitled to watch the games; it's that I'm a child of the internet and am frustrated that broadcasting companies and the NHL don't understand that my "region" is the whole country.

I get that there are all kinds of broadcasting deals behind the scenes, but I'd be willing to pay the NHL directly in order to stream their games. And actually, the cable channel in Colorado that airs Avalanche games is owned by Kroenke Sports, who own the Avalanche. If they offered some sort of streaming service, I'd pay the team directly to watch their games online. I'd even watch ads! I just don't want to pay for cable because I don't watch the vast majority of what I'm paying for.

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