Official Hockey discussion thread

I hope Washington doesn't pick him up, but then again there isn't to much on the goalie market. Apparently Big Buff is going to the Predators, I was hoping he stuck around Chicago for awhile apparently he was a great guy in there locker room and obviously did his fair share for the cup run.
 
Shit...Big Buff was a huge playoff factor for the 'Hawks. Guy created alot of chaos in the slot, is almost impossible to dislodge from in front of the net and not to mention can score some clutch goals. Definitely the X Factor in the 'Hawks success.
 
Yep, but what can you do when you're up on the cap? Nothing. Hopefully Buff makes some waves in Hotlanta.
 
Hopefully, talk about a franchise that has gone nowhere even with top players like, Heatly, Hossa, Kovalchuck and Lethonen... What did you guys think of the Draft? I caught the second half of the first round on VS... I was interested on Detroit's pick more than anything... they haven't picked this high (21st I think) in like 11 years! And somehow they manage to find great talent.
 
Nabby off to Philly... if they work out a deal he just might be the goalie they've been needing to put them over the top and FINALLY win a damn cup.
 
Derek Smalls said:
Shit...Big Buff was a huge playoff factor for the 'Hawks. Guy created alot of chaos in the slot, is almost impossible to dislodge from in front of the net and not to mention can score some clutch goals. Definitely the X Factor in the 'Hawks success.
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I can't really agree here. Buff was a force for half the Vancouver series and against a relatively soft Sharks defense in the Western finals. He disappeared for four games in the Final when a guy of equal size and more talent (Prongs) matched up against him, and let's not forget that he had a -7 +/- rating during the regular season (worst rating on the Hawks roster). I'm not disparaging Buff, because I think he's a good player, but Stan Bowman sold high on him and got back a veteran Marty Reasoner with an expiring contract, a solid prospect in Morin and two picks in the first two rounds. I applaud this move 150%.
 
JackAttack said:
I can't really agree here. Buff was a force for half the Vancouver series and against a relatively soft Sharks defense in the Western finals. He disappeared for four games in the Final when a guy of equal size and more talent (Prongs) matched up against him, and let's not forget that he had a -7 +/- rating during the regular season (worst rating on the Hawks roster). I'm not disparaging Buff, because I think he's a good player, but Stan Bowman sold high on him and got back a veteran Marty Reasoner with an expiring contract, a solid prospect in Morin and two picks in the first two rounds. I applaud this move 150%.
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How many teams have a defenseman capable of handling Byfuglein? Maybe Chara, but Pronger was brilliant against Buff in the first 3 games of the series, but once Pronger had to be committedto him, and that big line for Chicago was split up, Kane finally was able to produce. A good playoff player is effective even when he is off the ice and forces the oppositon's coach to put himself into the equation even when he isn't on the ice.

A definite casualty of the Cap Era.

And the -7 isn't the playoffs...as we all know playoffs are played on a different plane of existence . Just ask Ovie.
 
Michalek is supposed to be the new shut down d-man... don't know about that. There is very few options to replace a player like Gonchar, though Letang and Goligoski are progressing well.

Auld?! seriously? Jesus, I was hoping they'd get Biron or Niitymaki, but Biron went off to NYR.

There has been a lot of press over high price goalies not translating into deep successes and that GMs are now looking at the Niemi/Leighton model.

I personally thin that is bullshit. I know not even Chicago or Philly new these guys were going to be that good, and frankly I don't think they were, they had a good team up front. high price goalies under fire are Nabokov, Lundqvist, Luongo and even Brodeur. I think it's bullshit.  Of that group on ly Luongo has a question mark on his price tag as he has HORRIBLE rebound control and is prone to cracking. Nabby continues to play solid and it is just an enigma how SJ could not make it to the finals with such a good team on paper. Lundqvist is a really good goalie, but Management hasn't provided him with a decent D and the forwards they've gotten since Jagr left have been crap, not his fault. As for Brodeur... I feel his situation is a mixture of Nabby's and Lundqvist, either not a good team up front or... WTF? why did they not go deeper with such a good club?

Blaming high price goalies who are WORTH IT for lack of team success is bullshit and just because a few bargain deals have panned out well doesn't mean every cheap goalie will get you a cup. What this will do, which I'm all for it, is start giving more players in general a chance regardless of pricetag.
 
It just means that Price gets the workload. I hope he's up to it.

Letang and Goligoski are going to be the shots. Letang is pretty good, but you're right - neither is a Gonchar. However, in my opinion, Gonchar is getting hurt too much right now. It was time for him to move on, and I agree with Shero's decision there. He's too old to demand a 3 year contract. I mean, really...it's selfish. He obviously didn't want to stick with the Pens if he wouldn't agree to one year deals.

The only reason Niemi isn't a high priced goalie was because he was young; Leighton because he's inconsistent. The problem is that teams need to start doing 50-30 in games again, instead of 72-10.

Second day is still slow. Apparently Kovalchuk has been offered an average of 8.25/year for seven years by LA, front-loaded. LA is a great young team that is very close to where Chicago was 2 years ago, and are one of my favourites to contend in 2012. However, he's been offered 7-8 million in the KHL - and there's no taxes in the KHL.
 
LooseCannon said:
The only reason Niemi isn't a high priced goalie was because he was young; Leighton because he's inconsistent. The problem is that teams need to start doing 50-30 in games again, instead of 72-10.
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Thanks to Brodeur and in recent years Luongo and Nabby, people expect goalies to play 60+ games... but I agree with you.

Second day is still slow. Apparently Kovalchuk has been offered an average of 8.25/year for seven years by LA, front-loaded. LA is a great young team that is very close to where Chicago was 2 years ago, and are one of my favourites to contend in 2012. However, he's been offered 7-8 million in the KHL - and there's no taxes in the KHL.
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I wonder if th KHL is what it's cracked up to be. Sure it's lured older players (Jagr) that can still play, decent players that couldn't hack it in the NHL, but aside from the paychecks I wonder what the QUALITY of the league is. The best players, regardless of paycheck, play in the NHL. The KHL seems like the NHL's little brother. While the best league in Europe, they still don't play nearly as many games as the NHLers do.
 
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