NHL 2012-2013: Tentative deal early Sunday January 6

skeletonframes wrote:

If Lidstrom decides to retire, Suter could be wearing Red & White next year. Depends on how much money means to him. The allure of Detroit's ownership and players is strong, but the Wings won't overspend.

Figures, they get everyone. Chelios, Modano... I hate them.

PAR

Well, there's been rumblings around (which I don't believe, at all) that Detroit will use its cap space to woo Parise. Either at the trade deadline, with some draft picks, or in free agency (if Lidstrom stays one more). If that's the case, they won't get Suter. Hence, they won't get everybody. Only those you mentioned and, arguably, the top UFA this off-season.

Dysplastic wrote:
Vector wrote:
Dysplastic wrote:

Whitney's foot injury worries me - it's Forsberg-esque. I expect Edmonton to overpay for Suter though, so who knows?
Visnovsky could be a good fit.

Hehe, I doubt Suter would go from a winning team in a great city to Edmonton.

There's no doubt that Edmonton would have to overpay, but I seriously think they WILL overpay and offer more than Nashville may be able to (or want to) match. They have cap space and Katz is willing to spend.

I meant that I don't think Suter would sign in Edmonton. There isn't an allure of the city like there is in LA or New York. The team sucks and the management is terrible.

Vector wrote:
Dysplastic wrote:
Vector wrote:
Dysplastic wrote:

Whitney's foot injury worries me - it's Forsberg-esque. I expect Edmonton to overpay for Suter though, so who knows?
Visnovsky could be a good fit.

Hehe, I doubt Suter would go from a winning team in a great city to Edmonton.

There's no doubt that Edmonton would have to overpay, but I seriously think they WILL overpay and offer more than Nashville may be able to (or want to) match. They have cap space and Katz is willing to spend.

I meant that I don't think Suter would sign in Edmonton. There isn't an allure of the city like there is in LA or New York. The team sucks and the management is terrible.

And I meant that sometimes getting offered 2 million more per year than you would make in LA or NY can mean more to a player than a crappy team. Besides, the team sucks because the defence sucks. Suter would automatically make the team substantially better. It's not like Hall/Eberle/RNH are getting worse.

Dysplastic wrote:
Vector wrote:
Dysplastic wrote:
Vector wrote:
Dysplastic wrote:

Whitney's foot injury worries me - it's Forsberg-esque. I expect Edmonton to overpay for Suter though, so who knows?
Visnovsky could be a good fit.

Hehe, I doubt Suter would go from a winning team in a great city to Edmonton.

There's no doubt that Edmonton would have to overpay, but I seriously think they WILL overpay and offer more than Nashville may be able to (or want to) match. They have cap space and Katz is willing to spend.

I meant that I don't think Suter would sign in Edmonton. There isn't an allure of the city like there is in LA or New York. The team sucks and the management is terrible.

And I meant that sometimes getting offered 2 million more per year than you would make in LA or NY can mean more to a player than a crappy team. Besides, the team sucks because the defence sucks. Suter would automatically make the team substantially better. It's not like Hall/Eberle/RNH are getting worse.

True, I just can't see it happening. If I'm wrong I'll eat crow but I really picture Suter getting a contract offer from Edmonton and then laughing.

skeletonframes wrote:

Well, there's been rumblings around (which I don't believe, at all) that Detroit will use its cap space to woo Parise.

Bah, there are many people around here that are absolutely convinced that Parise will come "home". "Home" being the state that he was so tied to that he went to college at f*cking North Dakota (f*cking North Dakota being their official name).

Nooooo! Not Minnesota! Where good offense goes to die.

And, as if on cue, Ryan Suter has stated he will not sign with Nashville before the trade deadline. That doesn't mean he won't sign at all, but it's looking like he's either waiting to test the market or waiting to see what the Predators do. Really, though, why wouldn't he?

http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2...

I shouldn't laugh:

http://didgomezscore.com/

(but I did)

I was at the Buffalo - Montreal game last night, and you should have heard the crowd tear into Gomez. It was pretty merciless. Whenever he touched the puck there were all kinds of sarcastic 'let's go Gomez' yells, and if he ever turned the puck over he was booed loud and long. Man, that has to wear on your confidence, especially as it must already be terrible having not scored in almost a full year. I was really pulling for him to score, because it would have been a historic night in the Bell Centre if he had, but also because the guy needs to get the gorilla off his back.

In other news the Leafs lost to the Penguins despite being up 4 - 1 in the third, but Bozak was robbed of a goal by the refs:

I'm not complaining, because the Leafs should have won despite that terrible call, but if the refs had that one right the score would have been 5 - 1 at the start of the third not 4 - 1.

Ranger Rick wrote:

I shouldn't laugh:

http://didgomezscore.com/

(but I did)

Who wouldn't, that's hilarious!

Speaking of scoring. Thorburn finally scored his first goal as a Jet and if I am not mistaken we got our first shootout win, in the regular season, last night as well. Wooo Hooo!

nihilo wrote:

I was at the Buffalo - Montreal game last night, and you should have heard the crowd tear into Gomez. It was pretty merciless. Whenever he touched the puck there were all kinds of sarcastic 'let's go Gomez' yells, and if he ever turned the puck over he was booed loud and long. Man, that has to wear on your confidence, especially as it must already be terrible having not scored in almost a full year. I was really pulling for him to score, because it would have been a historic night in the Bell Centre if he had, but also because the guy needs to get the gorilla off his back.

http://jetsnation.ca/2012/1/26/is-sc...

I had a rant composed but I figure I'll spare you all that. Gomez is just the latest of the media/fan scapegoats (when Gomez was injured Cammalleri was the guy. Once Gomez is gone Subban will inexplicably probably be the next one).

I had him on my fantasy hockey team through all of last season expecting his on-ice shooting percentage to regress and the points to come because his line was dominating play. I had him on my team this season until he got injured for a second time (which is when the Habs started carrying the play like a lottery team). If you're going to have fan favourite Desharnais playing with the team's two best wingers in a 3rd-line role and no 2nd-defense pairing you're going to need someone other than Plekanec to soak up the defensive minutes that Desharnais can't handle. Even without scoring that's what Gomez has done and he still has the 7th highest even-strength points/time-on-ice on the team despite going goalless.

At the beginning of the season my expectation that Gomez would be a fairly important player but would be moved next summer to make room for a superior player. With the circus around the team and the team's performance without Gomez I'm not so sure. Gomez isn't worth the cap hit but he's like a veteran mid-rotation starting pitcher in baseball; soaking up minutes, not hurting the team. I think he'd be a terrific acquisition for a team like Winnipeg that doesn't spend to the cap and could use a little help to put Little and others in easier positions.

The clock controversy....

http://espn.go.com/nhl/conversations...

"Those clocks are sophisticated instruments that calculate time by measuring electrical charges called coulombs -- given the rapidity and volume of electrons that move through the measuring device the calibrator must adjust at certain points which was the delay you see -- the delay is just recalibrating for the clock moving too quickly during the 10 - 10ths of a second before the delay -- this insures that the actual playing time during a period is exactly 20 minutes That is not an opinion -- that is science -- amazing devise quite frankly."

Classic quote from LA Kings GM Dean Lombardi.

I watched the game real time.. And looking back at it I was a bit confused. I think I subliminally noticed the clock stop.

I don't think a ~1 second misreading is normal for this sort of timekeeping device. That would be evidence of a pretty cruddy clock.

goman wrote:
"Those clocks are sophisticated instruments that calculate time by measuring electrical charges called coulombs -- given the rapidity and volume of electrons that move through the measuring device the calibrator must adjust at certain points which was the delay you see -- the delay is just recalibrating for the clock moving too quickly during the 10 - 10ths of a second before the delay -- this insures that the actual playing time during a period is exactly 20 minutes That is not an opinion -- that is science -- amazing devise quite frankly."

Classic quote from LA Kings GM Dean Lombardi.

Coaches and GMs perform some pretty incredible mental gymnastics to twist things into positives for their teams—Marchand plays 'on the edge', Chara didn't know the stanchion was there, that sort of thing—but that really takes the cake: "The clock is fine, isn't it amazing?"

At a glance that looks brutal. Columbus' GM made a statement on their website and then took it down. Here's the cached version:

http://webcache.googleusercontent.co...

Sam Gagner just scored 8 points in one game. First player in 23 years to accomplish that feat. Absolutely unbelievable. A rare bright spot in an otherwise dismal season for both my fav teams.

(Cynical comment - he got more points in that game than Gomez has all season)

Gagner involved in the 3 Oilers goals (so far) in tonight's game against Detroit. What a run for him, shades of Brain Boucher's 5-game shutout streak.

James Riemer seems to have had a very nice night tonight as well. 49-save shutout.

Oh yeah? Well, Vancouver just squeaked by Colorado in the shootout thanks to a random bounce off the stanchion with half a minute left in the game. So, like, yeah.

Roke wrote:

James Riemer seems to have had a very nice night tonight as well. 49-save shutout.

Reimer looked excellent last night, like he was back to his old form. Pucks hit him and dropped dead, he looked very quiet, very steady. On the other hand, Ottawa wasn't able to get many good scoring chances either, and many of those 49 saves were very routine. But Reimer made it look easy, too, which is a big positive.

Going into the 3rd period, and Jets are looking UGLY! Good god! It's like they are deliberately playing not to make the playoffs!

Picture from Saturday night:
IMAGE(http://beta.images.theglobeandmail.com/archive/01370/Leafsearly_jpg_1370394cl-8.jpg)

4xis.black wrote:

Oh yeah? Well, Vancouver just squeaked by Colorado in the shootout thanks to a random bounce off the stanchion with half a minute left in the game. So, like, yeah.

Nothing random about it, Bieksa leveled up that skill last year in the playoffs.

Got to go to the "Skate with the Canes" event yesterday, had a good time. Got lots of autographs, and pictures with the players.

When we signed Anthony Stewart over the summer, he had posted to Twitter asking for someone to photoshop him in a 'Canes uniform, so I obliged. I've since done a few other Photoshopping jobs for him. Was walking by the locker room on the way to the weight room for pictures, and hear him yell out, "Hey, it's Ranger Rick!" That was kinda cool.

My wife with Jiri Tlusty (who is wearing quite a bit more than some other pictures of him <g>):
IMAGE(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7018/6830279119_60ba636fdd.jpg)

In the weight room with Tim Gleason, Justin Falk, Andreas Nödl, and Justin Peters:
IMAGE(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7173/6830289629_8e25543ee3.jpg)

In the locker room with Drayson Bowman, Jussi Jokinen, Eric Staal, and Anthony Stewart:
IMAGE(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7174/6830299215_98512ff5a4.jpg)

You sumFemale Doggo.

Leafs have a good run going, with solid goaltending and contributions from all over the lineup. Coincidentally, this is the first time the Leafs have had everyone healthy in quite a while - I think it's a good part of the reason for their recent success.

Tonight they play for the second night in a row, against the Jets in Winnipeg. The Jets are an entirely different team at home, and despite their recent poor play, I'm thinking this will be a hard win to get.

The Leafs know what type of game they need to play to win tonight: it's about speed, quick passes and being aggressive. If they can impose their game on the Jets, they should definitely beat the weaker team.

Well the Jets may have Stapleton and Kane back in the lineup tonight. That would mean they would will finally have a full healthy roster as well. If the Jets want to make the playoffs they have to this around tonight. Beating Toronto would be a huge help!

I hope the Jets crush Toronto tonight and ride that confidence on the road.

I hope Grabovski and Brian Little both get hat trick. (biased by my fantasy team)

Say what you will about the Jets organization or the team they put together, the home fans in Winnipeg are second to none. Excellent atmosphere last night and you could just see the Jets get a lift from it. I only wish the ACC sounded like that - stupid corporate seats.

// rant incoming

MLSE would never do it, but they should make an effort to fill the ACC with non-season ticket holders by making individual tickets available and stop pushing ticket packages. Listen to the Leafs fans when they played in Ottawa this past Saturday. The arena was probably more than half filled with Toronto fans, and they were loud and energetic. So much so that there's a column in the Ottawa Citizen complaining about it. It's the same way in Buffalo - the other arena average Leafs fans usually go to because they have a chance at getting a ticket. The Leafs fans in those buildings are invested in the game, loud and often able to drown out the home crowd. When Toronto plays in Ottawa or Buffalo, it's basically a home game, except the fans are up and cheering. The only time the fans in the ACC get out of their seats is when they leave the period early to go buy beer in the concourse. I'm exaggerating, but not as much as I wish I was.

Myself, I've never seen the Leafs play at home. Only away, in a few different arenas. I'm going to my first ACC game ever this year, and I only got those tickets through somebody that had a connection to somebody. Oh, and the tickets I got? Needed to be bought together with Marlies tickets. Thanks. I wouldn't mind much, but I'm not making a second trip to Toronto to see the Marlies play. I gave those tickets away. I've never managed to buy a Leafs ticket from a box office, and buying from scalpers is rather insane. If I hear that someone is going to the ACC, it's usually because their company got them tickets, or maybe they got them from a lawyer or something. Leafs fans know you can't buy hockey tickets at the box office.

The atmosphere in the ACC has been a bit better this season, with the Leafs being a better team and more excitement in the city, but.. yeah. Leafs fans on the road are way better than they are at home, and the reason you always hear for it is because the fans in the ACC are way too corporate crowd. This isn't because there aren't energetic fans in Toronto that want to go.. it's because those fans are priced out of getting tickets. It's frustrating.

// rant over

The Jets as expected raised their game last night and put in a good effort versus the Leafs. Toronto lacked finish on a few good opportunities and were looking rather tired by the end of the game. If more Leafs had put the puck on the net, that game could easily have gone to Toronto. It was a good game though, very entertaining.

The Jets as expected raised their game last night and put in a good effort versus the Leafs. Toronto lacked finish on a few good opportunities and were looking rather tired by the end of the game. If more Leafs had put the puck on the net, that game could easily have gone to Toronto. It was a good game though, very entertaining.

Yeah it was a close game. I was dreading a 2nd Leafs goal, I thought it was inevitable. They had a few good chances. The Jets played great D on the power plays, and on 2 of them held the Leafs to no shots on net which was huge! I just hope they can take this momentum to Washington and Pittsburgh. If they can manage to win both of those games we will be right in the hunt for 3rd place! 1st in the southeast east division.

Crazy year!