Official Hockey discussion thread

I think that's exactly what Zito is thinking. With the projected cap increase of the next few years, $7 million for a fading 2nd pair D is very reasonable, and when he's done with Jones, he can sell him for a reasonable return. Always a sucker willing to take on a RHD.
 
Just a question, if your team's starter goalie had a save percentage of 88.66 towards the end of the season - is it the goalie's fault or the coach continuing to let him start?
 
Maturin said:
Just a question, if your team's starter goalie had a save percentage of 88.66 towards the end of the season - is it the goalie's fault or the coach continuing to let him start?
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Asking for the Pens?

Rataanen to the stars, he sign led for 8yrs 12M per. He's 28, that s contract could age worse than Tavares'. BUT if the stars win a cup in the next two years no one will care
 
Well slap le silly and call me Susan, Bruins send Charlie Coyle to Colorado, Brandon Carlo to Toronto and Brad Marchand to Florida.... I'm in a Twilight Zone episode
 
There were some interesting trades for sure. Hawks made out well trading Mrazak (contract next year at 4.75M) and Smith for Valeno (who has had a horrible season this year, but still a 1st round pick and young. I had assumed they would have to buy out Mrazak this off season ... getting something for him in return is fantastic. Smith has had a nice season mostly in the bottom 6, but 35 years old. Nice way to clear the goalie logjam, do right by Mrazak who has been a real pro in all senses of the word, and take a flyer on someone with some potential that is easy enough to walk away from.
 
Hey, the Hawks got Shea Weber (about 8 years too late) ... but another nice move taking on the salary to assure the cap floor for a low pick and gaining a couple young players from Utah
 
Onhell said:
Asking for the Pens?

Rataanen to the stars, he sign led for 8yrs 12M per. He's 28, that s contract could age worse than Tavares'. BUT if the stars win a cup in the next two years no one will care
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The question is propably about Max Lagace, a former Vegas Knights backup, who is struggling and currently holds a 17-10-0 record, and a .887 save percentage in the swedish hockey league for Färjestad BK:
www.eliteprospects.com

Maxime Lagacé - Stats, Contract, Salary & More

Eliteprospects.com hockey player profile of Maxime Lagacé, 1993-01-12 St-Augustin-de-Desmaures, QC, CAN Canada. Most recently in the SHL with Färjestad BK. Complete player biography and stats.
www.eliteprospects.com www.eliteprospects.com
What do you think?

Recently aquired former NHL backup and journeyman Anders Lindbäck (Nashville, Tampa Bay, Dallas, Buffalo, Arizona), 36 years old, and arrested for drunk driving and a minor drug offence last year, might become Färjestad's new starter instead. They couldn't get anyone else suitable, so late in the season.
www.eliteprospects.com

Anders Lindbäck - Stats, Contract, Salary & More

Eliteprospects.com hockey player profile of Anders Lindbäck, 1988-05-03 Gävle, SWE Sweden. Most recently in the SHL with Färjestad BK. Complete player biography and stats.
www.eliteprospects.com www.eliteprospects.com

A playoff run with Färjestad in the SHL this year might become Lindbäck's swan song...he turns 37 in may.

Old highlight from the Buffalo days:

 
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A 17-10-0 record isn't bad, but a .887 is not good. What's the league average in the SEL this year? We don't have advanced analytics for any of the minor or national leagues, so it's hard to tell if Lagace's truly bad, or if he's being hung out to dry by the team defence.
 
The current SHL save percentage record in the regular season is held by Henrik Lundqvist (from the 2002/2003 season) at 0.948.
www.quanthockey.com

SHL Goalies - Best Save Percentage in a Single Season

SHL goalies who hold the single season record for the best save percentage in one SHL season.
www.quanthockey.com www.quanthockey.com

Max Lagace is in 13:th place this year:
old.shl.se

Statistik målvakter form.season.2024 - SHL.se

Målvaktsstatistik SHL form.season.2024 sammanfattning
old.shl.se old.shl.se
The top ranking goaltendender in save percentage this year (Tim Juel) is at 93,09.

I think Lagace is struggling a bit.
 
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yeah, if he's that far below the league average, he's probably the issue. Our understanding of how to evaluate a goaltender has rapidly evolved in the past ~10 years in the NHL level with the creation of goals saved above expected statistics (GSAx), but it's tougher in smaller leagues.
 
There's been a lot of discussion about what is happening. Poor defence is a given. Team is built around a flashy offence, winning no games 1-0; 2-0 but rather 6-4. Or if losing, losing 4-5. Scoring the most amount of goals, winning top scorer and most points with big margins (having 4 out of 10 players among the top points-scorers in the team) but still placing 4th in the series.

Lagacé was injured and went through surgery (groin injury) 2,5 years ago before joining and has been on and off injured since then. Injured 2 times this season just a few games at a time, but it could be a potential explanation. Some experts over here say he is not the issue but rather one of the best goalies in the league... Seeing him this season he has gone from insane saves to every shot going in and there's no telling which game it will be.

Which puts everything on the GM who chooses discount defencemen from a lower series every time over established names. He signed Canadian Quinn Schmiemann in February. From where? Slovakian league. Nothing bad to say about Schiemann at all, looks solid, but he ain't NHL-level like forwards Oskar Steen, David Tomášek, and Marian Studenic who after this season are all bound to get another chance at that.

I've been to games this year where we have parked in the offensive zone for 12-13 minutes looking like a continuous power play, scoring 0 goals and then having like 12-1 in shots on goals with 0-1 on the board after 14 minutes. Insanely frustrating sport, this.
 
I haven't watched any of the games so I can't tell for sure, but I suspect you're right in that it's winning in spite of the goalie. Although some goalies are just "big save goalies" (think Grant Fuhr, or Jordan Binnington). So maybe that's where we're at. I guess it depends on what happens in the playoffs. Rögle is already out so I will cheer for Färjestad, at least against Skellefteå. And of course, Malmo, although I expect Brynäs to obliterate them.

Modern hockey defense is system based, but it does need good players to execute. It can be hard to find quality defenders who can participate in a strong game. Takeaways, puck recovery, zone defense, and zone exits are far more important than what I expect Schmiemann can bring to a game. Schmiemann failed out of the Syracuse Crunch, which is an org that has promoted a huge amount of NHL players, and that's likely not a great recommendation, although I wish him well.

And yes, hockey is very frustrating. This statement is related to me going to an Ottawa Charge game where we dominated the first period and then gave it up worse and worse as it went along.
 
I am not really a Stars fan, though with the Hawks being where they are, I suppose I will root for them in the playoffs this year. I will say however, I am super impressed with the organization. They do a lot of nice things in the community and are really developing the sport big time in North Texas. What I am excited about is the most popular local news channel here (Fox4) has been airing games over the air for the first time in a long time and are doing massive stories on the team .. above the Mavs (NBA) and Rangers (MLB) and getting dangerously close to how they cover the Cowboys in season. Really nice to see. They are a very hot ticket at the moment
 
The Stars are a first class org, and have been making a lot of community inroads. Developing ice sheets, getting kids on the ice, being present in the community. They're a really likeable team on the ice, too, which helps with bandwagoning. I hope they get even more fans for this run, even if it looks like they'll have to go through the Avalanche in the first round (yikes).
 
It is nice to see, I have been here a bit over 20 years, when I first moved here and would wear a Hawks jersey (not during the summer of course .. too damned hot) a majority of people could not recognize the sport, much less the team and occasionally confused with some kind of alternate Redskins jersey. Now I cannot go a day without seeing someone wearing a Star something. Before here, I lived a long time in Southern California which was similar until the Kings traded for Gretzky It is nice seeing hocket not seen as a "Northern Sport". I really do hope Houston gets a team in the next expansion round. Beyond a great rival for the Stars, it is such a massive market
 
It seems really likely that Houston is going to happen in the next expansion round, which I'm really excited for. The rumour is they want to give Atlanta a third kick at the can (a bad idea) and assuredly they'll go back to Phoenix if they can find an owner and a rink (a better, but still bad, idea). I don't know where else they might be thinking about. The East is almost out of metros to drop an NHL team into, unless you're going to go to Hamilton (which would piss off the Leafs and Sabres) or Quebec City (which nobody other than Quebec City seems to want).
 
LooseCannon said:
It seems really likely that Houston is going to happen in the next expansion round, which I'm really excited for. The rumour is they want to give Atlanta a third kick at the can (a bad idea) and assuredly they'll go back to Phoenix if they can find an owner and a rink (a better, but still bad, idea). I don't know where else they might be thinking about. The East is almost out of metros to drop an NHL team into, unless you're going to go to Hamilton (which would piss off the Leafs and Sabres) or Quebec City (which nobody other than Quebec City seems to want).
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Yeah, Houston is perfect. The Aeros had some decent success and a bit of a following. A reasonably new and quite nice downtown arena is in place (the Rockets play there now). Houston has a massive population, lots of transplants from hockey areas, and Houston (mostly from football) has a bit of an inferiority complex sports-wise towards Dallas. It is a rivalry that can get pretty massive pretty quickly with the Stars. If anything adding team in the 3rd biggest US market will certainly not hurt when the next TV contracts come up
 
Yeah I think Houston is a no-brainer. There's apparently a billionaire interested. Given that the rumoured fee for the next expansion round is going to be at least a billion dollars, you need someone with pretty deep pockets. But I really like Houston as an option for all the reasons you say above. Adding easy geographical rivalries is a fantastic idea.
 
Whelp, Ovie tied Gretzkey tonight. This made me feel.... weird. I've witnessed A LOT of hockey, it is just mindboggling everything I've witnessed. Gretzkey still pretty good, Lemieux as an absolute beast, as well as Jagr, not to mention Cam Neely, Ray Bourque, Lidstrom, the powerhouse Red Wings and Avalanche, the rise and dominance of Brodeur and Hasek, The continued greatness of Roy. Team records being broken, then.... 20 years ago the entrance of Ovi and Crosby. Two kids with the weight of the world on their shoulders and astronomical expectations. Not only did they somehow MEET said ridiculous expectations, they somehow SURPASSED them! It's a shame that like Lemieux, Neely, Bossy, Orr and others Crosby was robbed of his prime due to injuries. Even with that he's managed to score over 600 goals and have 20 straight point per game seasons, something even Gretzkey couldn't do. And now Ovi is a goal away from becoming the most prolific scorer in league history. Not to mention he very well be the first to get and break the 900 goal mark.

What's crazy is Matthews and McDavid are right behind both. Quinn Hughes and Cale Makar may be the next Orr and Lidstrom. OH, Also got to see Paul Coffey and Phil Housely... again... A LOT of hockey. Shame I never saw Rocket, Howe or even the ones in the 80s, but what I've gotten to witness is just insane. Hashtag blessed LOL
 
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