Friday Morning Fly By: Welcome HuckNZ to the Drunken Masthead Debauchery

I hate the “unproven in the playoffs” bit. Neither is Bob. Neither was Michael Leighton. Or Jaroslav Halak. Or Antii Niemi. Or Marc-Andre Fleury (when he went to the Cup Finals). Or Roberto Luongo. Or Henrik Lundqvist.

Good goalies are good goalies. And while Semyon Varlamov could easily be argued “unproven in the playoffs”, he had a 0.924 ES S% in last year’s playoffs, which is plenty good enough to win.

Agree also in the new NHL goaltending in the playoffs is not be all end all for success. And is improving save percentage for 0.920 to 0.930 going to make a difference. That is a 1% difference or a single save in a 100 shots. Maybe the difference in 1 goal every 3.5 games. I am pretty sure Versteeg can make up for that over a guy like Carcillo.

Also what is the success rate for Goalie deals at the deadline actually making a difference.

Comes from this.

Exactly.

I am with you.

No way man.

Hhhhhmmm, An older goalie for a younger goalie.

No way. I want BOB !

Shhhh. Don’t rain on her parade. lol

Thank you! Thats why I finally decided to go for it, cause when he’s gone I’ll still have it. Yeah he probably won’t be a Flyer for too much longer, so I’ll hold on to it for as long as possible

Oh man, I am so turned on by that pic right now…

Wait, who were you asking?

/KIDDING

When did we sign one of the Geico Cavemen?

Hang on a moment while I rumage through my image file (theres 300+ Carcillos in there)
Yes. Yes I do.

That’s if he’s even re-assigned. Which he likely won’t be.

That means you have 26 hours and 8 minutes to let me know

I almost put something in there like that. Couldn’t phrase it properly.

But basically, statisticians get slammed for using “luck”, but “watch the game” people immediately go to “chemistry, momentum, and intangibles.”

Well, why not sing some for us and we’ll see.

Ask me how do I feel from this chemistry lesson I’m learning.

Perhaps you should change your username to Myth66

I agree, it’s not quantifiable in the least, but it’s definitely there. Every player has their own unique skill set, and combining them certain ways makes really good lines, while other combinations are really bad, and others (most combinations) will be somewhere in the middle.

In the simplest example I can think of, some guys are good shooters, while others are good playmakers. They are both good players on their own, but combined they are even better because the shooter has someone to get him the puck, and the playmaker has someone to pass to. They help each other do their jobs better.

And Leino’s unselfish play endeared him to Lavy, which is probably even more important.

It is becoming a problem, but taking away the drafts at the CHL level may not make things any better. If the CHL can’t get top players to report to those franchises by drafting them, they’ll never get good players to sign there as something like a free agent. With the draft, they at least have a chance that the player will report.

For example, Rimouski as a franchise has a pretty decent history, but it’s in the middle of nowhere, really. It is pretty up there, a town way up river from Quebec City. In 2002-03 They were last in the entire Q with only 11 wins and 25 points (72 games played). They had been a little better the year before, in 01-02 they had 33 wins and 72 points in 72 games played, 6th in an 8 team division. Well, well, well, 03-04 comes around, now Sidney Crosby’s on the team, suddenly they win their division and have a 19% increase in attendance. Now they have a young phenom there to bring people in. Crosby’s gone after 2 years, now attendance drops by 14% after his departure.

My point is, those major junior CHL franchises need to have a top player once in a while to ensure their survival. Without CHL drafts, there’s no way Crosby (who could have picked any team he wanted) goes to out-of-the-way, last place Rimouski. But they draft him first overall, he reports, and he takes them to the Memorial Cup 2 years later.

The system is flawed, and yes the players have leverage because they can bolt to the NCAA, but taking the system away gives those teams no chance of survival.

Bit of a sticky wicket, to put it simply. Yes, it’s difficult to feel badly for NHL players w/ the salaries they earn at the NHL level. Historically I tend to think of what minor league players on 2-way contracts earn and try to imagine them getting by w/ only a fraction of that salary to ride the buses. Please let me know of any other articles relating to this problem, especially regarding the juniors, as I lately have taken a deeper interest in political/ collective bargaining issues and the like. It’s on everyone’s mind around here these days.
BTW, does anyone know how I can find a copy of this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_Worth_(TV_film)
It looked interesting to me, anyway.

And if Neal was all he is cracked up to be, why were the Stars so willing to unload him and his fat contract?

Since Joe Niewendyk is not a particularly good GM? That and, in part, the media overrates Neal a bit. Much more of the former than the latter.

I would jump all over Adam Foote in a second.

Might want to rephrase.

I think it’s a combination / “either-or” of good players playing with other good players, or styles of play which happen to complement one another.

If Player X is a slick passer, Player Y tends to crash the net / hang out in the low slot, and Player Z is strong along the boards and can shoot / score from a distance, chances are they’re going to have chemistry because each player fills a specific role well.

Oskars can go on IR to clear a roster spot

Zherdev is already down, where’ve you been? :)

Thats almost as bad as saying “We have been healthy all this time with no injuries” or " [Insert goalie name here] is so far standing on his head and has a shutout going !"

GGgggggrrrrrrrr !!!!

Most of his teammates sided with the coach. I bet they hate the kid. He’s gonna have to transfer, cause he sure as hell isn’t getting laid there anymore.

“To be honest, it’s kind of hard to accept your apology, just because you claim it’s justified, you claim you weren’t crossing the line. … As your player I’m supposed to be able to respect you and I don’t feel I can do that anymore,” Kravchuk said.

I hope the kid had tissues nearby.

In the video on KYW it was more like a shove to the ground, and I don’t think I want him talking to Jeff Skinner….