2010 NHL Offseason chatter

[oddball]

I find it interesting that Halak carried the Canadiens and yet the Blackhawks won despite Niemi? Niemi has a Cup and Halak has what? The Blues. Yes, Halak was good, very good in the playoffs, but I agree that you are basing one and I do mean one good run for Halak and thinking that he will be better than Price. I agree that Halak is no better than Niemi, or Leighton, or Turco, or Luongo, or whatever other run of the mill, "Let's have a good run" goaltender. Like I said before, don't hang your hat on Halak being as good as you think he is. We've seen it time and time again, where a good player has a good run, and then moves to a new team and you see how not-so good he was. For as good as you think Halak was, remember the fact that the team in front of him Hal Gill and company shut down the two top teams of Crosby and Ovechkin. That wasn't Halak against those teams alone, it was 18 guys in front of him that made his job easier. So before you start engraving Halak's name into the Hall of Fame, remember what and who St. Louis has for a team and what they did the year before. It's the 18 guys in front of Halak that are going to make him good. Hell, Patrick Roy in his prime, playing on Toronto the past few years, or Anaheim this year would've looked like a crappy goaltender because of the guys in front of him on those two teams.

[The_Admiral]

We need to have a frank discussion about modern NHL goaltending. I think it's been simultaneously elevated and leveled, if that makes sense.

[BigEd76]

oddball, any thoughts on Quick being a possible target of the Flyers? Dunno if Bernier is ready yet...

[STL FANATIC]

First off, I didn't say I think Halak's better than Price. I think Carey Price is going to have an excellent NHL career. I think the Habs were in great shape and as I said before, I was hopefully the Blues could find a way to get either one of the two from Montreal. And they did.

I know Niemi has a Cup, good for him. The Hawks didn't win in spite of him throughout the playoffs (though there were games when they did). Niemi played extremely well in many playoff games. But in my currently unprovable observation, he played over his head. I think he comes down to earth. I still don't think he carried the team, though. Just because he played well doesn't mean it wasn't the guys in front of him who carried that team.

Halak on the other hand is widely considered the reason the Habs advanced to where they did both during the playoffs and to get there. Of course the guys in front played a role. It's a team sport, rarely does one player do everything. But Halak was that teams leader.

As for how the Blues will compare to what the Habs provided for him--that doesn't worry me at all. The Blues were roughly an equal to the Canadiens but happened to play in a tougher conference.

The one thing I do agree with is that you never know how a young goalie will build (or not) upon greatness. We do see them flop time and time again. But you gotta start somewhere, and I like Halak's chances to continue it.

[oddball]

oddball, any thoughts on Quick being a possible target of the Flyers? Dunno if Bernier is ready yet...

If this was next year, I would say, sure. Here's the thing with Bernier. He was given an opportunity a couple of years ago and then was sent down. Then last year when he didn't make the Kings he sulked in Manchester for half the year. This year when he was sent down, he knew what needed to be done and did it. He came up and played well in his brief stint for the Kings. I honestly see him spending another full year in Manchester and dominate another year down there. I would put Quick in the solid NHL goaltender category with the likes of Niemi and Halak, but he does tend to slump. He did take the #1 goaltender spot and got the Kings into the playoffs. I just at this point wouldn't trade him unless you gave me that sniper that is good for 35-40 goals a year, and I don't see that happening. If you give me that sniper, then I'll think long and hard about trading Quick. You'd like Quick in Philly, especially since he's been tutored by Ron Hextall and Bill Ranford. He'd do well in Philly and I could see Philly loving him as he's a blue collar type of player.

[Corvus]

We need to have a frank discussion about modern NHL goaltending. I think it's been simultaneously elevated and leveled, if that makes sense.

Its a hell of a lot better than the 80's thats for sure.

I think there's some new rules about equipment for goalies next year as well I think.

[The_Admiral]

But in my currently unprovable observation, he played over his head.

Niemi had a .912 sv% in the regular season and a .910 in the playoffs, fairly respectable insofar as it's above the magic number of .900, but what's left to say here, really.

Anyway, the point I was going to make earlier is that I'm not sure if there's really a place left in the game for consistently dominant goaltending. Across the board, goalies are better athletes than they used to be, but it's been counterbalanced by a faster and more open game in front of them. They're all capable of putting up spectacular shutouts, but nobody is impervious to getting lit up, either. The only three goalies who got regular to semi-regular work this year where I'd say "man, he sucks, I don't want that guy" are Huet, Toskala, and Deslauriers. Everyone else, for the most part, I would largely trust to backstop a fleet-footed possession-oriented team like that of the Red Wings or the Blackhawks or anyone else who follows the modern blueprint for NHL success. This is why I'm not worried about some team overpaying for Niemi. Everyone's pretty good! Just go find someone else who's pretty good.

[rams80]

But they may not, and therein lies the problem.

It will be nice to see better goaltending of the Blues, though.

[jkrdevil]

The NJ Devils re-acquire Jason Arnott from the Predators. Give up prospect Matt Halischuk and a 2011 2nd round pick.

The Devils ongoing reunion tour continue.

[Don]

Flyers acquire Dan Hamhuis! Dammit! Hopefully they wont be able to sign him before 7/1.

[OMMF]

Flyers acquire Dan Hamhuis! Dammit! Hopefully they wont be able to sign him before 7/1.

USA Today made it sound like Hamhouse was excited to be headed to Philly. Flyers need to make some space for him, money-wise, so if they plan on keeping him, some veteran is out the door.

[charger77]

So the Arnott and Hamhuis jerseys will be hitting the discount racks soon.

[Brendan]

Flyers acquire Dan Hamhuis! Dammit! Hopefully they wont be able to sign him before 7/1.

I would laugh so hard if the Flyers couldn't resign Hamuis. Parents a good player who I could see becoming a solid dman.

[LC]

So the Arnott and Hamhuis jerseys will be hitting the discount racks soon.

I just bought an (overpriced) Arnott player tee with the new logo a month ago. It now joins the Kariya shirt.

But the fact I'm more disappointed over the uselessness of the shirt than losing him is a good thing. They're a lot better off now IMO.

[NEW.ERA]

I just marked down a Hamhuis jersey today actually and somebody bought it.

My question is why the hell did we have a Dan Hamhuis jersey?

[NJTank]

Its nice to see a hero for the Devils past return, hopefully he still has some magic left.

[goalieboy82]

does anyone know what time the schedule comes out on tuesday. also will there be a press conference at the sites of the Winter Classic and Heritage Classic anytime soon.

[NEW.ERA]

does anyone know what time the schedule comes out on tuesday. also will there be a press conference at the sites of the Winter Classic and Heritage Classic anytime soon.

Probably noon eastern for the schedule.

[The_Admiral]

NHLPA set to vote on the cap inflator/bonus cushion/escrow stuff tomorrow. To vote it down and lower the salary cap would be ridiculous and self-defeating, so I'm prepared for them to do that.

[Lee.]

NHLPA set to vote on the cap inflator/bonus cushion/escrow stuff tomorrow. To vote it down and lower the salary cap would be ridiculous and self-defeating, so I'm prepared for them to do that.

Donald Fehr would have it no other way.