2010-11 NHL Season Thread

[NJTank]

I am now convinced Ilya Kovalchuk is the worst signing in NHL history. The man turns contenders into the Atlanta Thrashers. He was not the best player on a bad team in Atlanta his presence made the Thrashers bad. The Devils should have thanked the NHL for voiding his contract and said have fun in the KHL or LA.

[The_Admiral]

I'm beginning to feel a lot better about my admittedly rash "there are 40 players I'd rather have than Kovalchuk" assertion. And this one's all on Vanderbeek. For a self-proclaimed lifelong Devils fan and season ticketholder, he sure doesn't have the good sense to stay out of Lou Freaking Lamoriello's hockey operations. Good lord.

[Corvus]

Gonna make it awful hard to sell all-star jerseys if we don't know what team a guy is playing for until the day before the game.

I mean, I know most of the people here hate those jerseys because they are almost always ugly but somebody has to be buying them.

And plus what's the jerseys going to have on it if it's not West vs East?

Just an NHL logo? The ASG logo? What would the colors be? There's a lot that goes into that

Team Crosby vs Team Ovechkin. Book it.

So the NHL All-Star Game is operating under WWE Survivor Series rules. Fantastic.

Sure, sounds good.

Edit: Game could feature run ins by players not included in ASG.

[Sodboy13]

The Blackhawks have some problems right now. The Blackhawks have a lot of problems right now. But I can soothe away my concerns knowing that, whatever may be wrong, at least there isn't this:

[oddball]

I'll say this, the Ducks look good right now and that is good for hockey in SoCal. As far as for Kovalchuck... let me be one person who posted time after time after time on the Kings boards, that Dean Lombardi's idea of keeping this core group together was more important than signing one individual that would screw up the team 2-3 years down the line. Those of us who posted this on the Kings boards were blasted time and time again, and yet now what looks better the Kings with their core or the Devils with Kovalchuck and their cap issues that are screwing them over? Give me 4 players scoring 10 goals over one player who is a cherry-picker scoring 40 goals. Kovalchuck is a talented player, but you don't win the Cup with one player, it's a full team of 20+ players. Have fun sinking into the hole of oblivion New Jersey, you were once a great organization, but with one feel swoop, you have turned into a "Mickey Mouse organization" to quote the Great One.

[ElwoodCuse]

I can't get enough of that Kovalchuk clip. Unlike the Patrick Stefan thing where he was like oh NOOOOOOOO Kovy's totally all "welp, I got paid, I don't care." Good job, Devils.

[OnWis97]

I cannot fathom why they came up with this All Star format. Just to shake things up? Nobody's going to remember who plays for what team. Two players from their favorite team will be playing against each other. East vs. West is not exactly NL vs. AL, but at least most fans know who plays on which team and, if they care, who to cheer for. "Red team vs. Blue team", "A vs. B". "Ovechkins vs. Crosbys", or whatever...East vs. West is, comparatively, compelling.

If they going to do this, why not just go all the way and throw all their sticks into a pile and choose a lucky kid to go in and throw them alternately onto each side of the ice? Each player can bring a white practice jersey and a dark practice jersey and put on the correct one.

[NJTank]

I cannot fathom why they came up with this All Star format. Just to shake things up? Nobody's going to remember who plays for what team. Two players from their favorite team will be playing against each other. East vs. West is not exactly NL vs. AL, but at least most fans know who plays on which team and, if they care, who to cheer for. "Red team vs. Blue team", "A vs. B". "Ovechkins vs. Crosbys", or whatever...East vs. West is, comparatively, compelling.

If they going to do this, why not just go all the way and throw all their sticks into a pile and choose a lucky kid to go in and throw them alternately onto each side of the ice? Each player can bring a white practice jersey and a dark practice jersey and put on the correct one.

Because they want to make the All Star even more painful to watch.

[Still MIGHTY]

I'll say this, the Ducks look good right now and that is good for hockey in SoCal.

I certainly did not expect this after the blitzkrieg the Ducks endured in their opening 0-3 skid. This isn't the best team I've ever seen, not even close. But they are a gritty group that's coming together and finding its way.

The Ducks are on a 5-game win streak. They are 6-1-1 at home, and 4-0-1 against the Eastern Conference. Currently 2nd in the Pacific Division and 5th in the West.

They are only one point behind the division-leading, conference-leading Los Angeles Kings. Which oddball said, this is good for SoCal hockey. The Kings/Ducks game in Anaheim on the 29th is going to be a great game. I suggest to anyone with the ability to (Center Ice or otherwise) watch that game. It'll be a hard-fought, grinded out, good, angry rivalry game. Watch this one.

Minus tonight, the offense has been stellar. They've been clicking. Teemu Selanne and Ryan Getzlaf are on fire to start the season. Both with 18 points, tied for 4th in the league in scoring. Teemu is 11th in the league in goals with 7. Getzlaf is tied for 4th with 12 assists. Koivu has goals in 4 straight. Each line knows itself and how it wants to play.

The ragtag defensive group that I've derided for the most part has certainly come together. They aren't the best, but they do just enough. Lydman has been fantastic since rejoining the team. He is the perfect stay at home compliment to Visnovsky. Cam Fowler is an absolute phenom. If you get a chance, watch this kid. He is 18-years old, and you wouldn't even notice. He actually moved in with Scott Niedermayer and his family last week, and the kid looks like a young Scotty on the ice. I wouldn't say he is going to be equal to Scott, but he has the same on-ice demeanor. Lilja and Mara have played within themselves, and been just solid.

The past few games, goaltending has been outstanding. Hiller and McElhinney stole the past few games (Hiller vs Pittsburgh and San Jose, McElhinney tonight vs the Islanders). They can both be streaky, but they are both extremely sharp right now.

The thing I like the most is they are pushing through each game. These aren't the prettiest games I've seen, but they are finding ways to win. And sometimes that's the most important thing. This team is definitely saving Carlyle's and Murray's jobs for now. They are coming together and I like it.

[Sport]

T.J. Oshie broke his ankle in a third period scrum last night. It will probably require surgery. I can't stand Oshie, but you never want to see anyone get injured, especially not in a meaningless fight in the third period of an 8-1 blowout.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=5790528&campaign=rss&source=NHLHeadlines

and LOL at the Buffalo goalie's reaction. He was like "okay, sweet!". I'm happy to see the Devils finally struggling. This is what most hockey fans have to go through. You've probably forgotten what that's like.

[Lee.]

Nobody watches the all-star game to begin with. It's not like it's a premier event in the hockey schedule. Why NOT do something different to add some kind of outside interest to the silly thing?

It's a meaningless game that caters to kids who don't know any better. It's not like they're tying home-ice advantage to the outcome, they're adding an element that MIGHT draw more viewers in. Relax, it's not like the sanctity of the event is being sacrificed.

The bottom line is, most of you are against this because you want to pre-order an all-star jersey, and can't because you don't know which team your guy is going to be on. Cope, and wait. All will be revealed.

[Sport]

Right. I'm sure that once the game is over then someone will write down who was on what team and their jersey will be available in your local team's pro shop. All it means is that the all star jerseys will come out later. Or if they really feel a high demand for people to buy jerseys before the game then they could make a generic all star game jersey. Personally, I think the draft is a fantastic idea. I probably still won't watch it though.

[HedleyLamarr]

I can't get enough of that Kovalchuk clip. Unlike the Patrick Stefan thing where he was like oh NOOOOOOOO Kovy's totally all "welp, I got paid, I don't care." Good job, Devils.

Thankfully, Stefan and Kovalchuk had their "epic fail" moments after they left the Thrashers...

Nobody watches the all-star game to begin with. It's not like it's a premier event in the hockey schedule. Why NOT do something different to add some kind of outside interest to the silly thing?

It's a meaningless game that caters to kids who don't know any better. It's not like they're tying home-ice advantage to the outcome, they're adding an element that MIGHT draw more viewers in. Relax, it's not like the sanctity of the event is being sacrificed.

The bottom line is, most of you are against this because you want to pre-order an all-star jersey, and can't because you don't know which team your guy is going to be on. Cope, and wait. All will be revealed.

The game itself may be hard to watch, but a lot of you would change your tune if you got to be a part of the All-Star festivities. All weekend long, both inside the arena and outside....you're talking hockey with folks from Edmonton and Boston and St. Louis and Los Angeles...and with no sort of rivalry-like tone to the conversations. Your city is dressed up with all sorts of All-Star banners. For one weekend, you're the center of the NHL universe, and there's something to be said about that.

Granted, I got to experience a few more opoortunities than the common All-Star festivities-attending fan would, but it's by-far the most fun I've ever had at work. (This includes experiencing NBA/NHL playoff games....)

[BrySmalls]

I like what the League has done to make this seasons All-Star Game more interesting and exciting than in seasons past.

[Lee.]

By all means, All-Star weekend is great for the host city, and its fans. The game as a whole, in the department that really matters to the NHL and its broadcast partners, is a ratings sinkhole.

[Punch]

Whoa. There is no one at this Wild-Thrashers game in Atlanta. There are literally 2-3 fan-chunks scattered throughout the building. I bring this up because I have noticed that when there seems to be about 100 fans at a game, the official attendance is listed at 10,000 or 11,000. Is the small number of fans on the TV screen an illusion, or does the team intentionally inflate the numbers?

[Still MIGHTY]

Whoa. There is no one at this Wild-Thrashers game in Atlanta. There are literally 2-3 fan-chunks scattered throughout the building. I bring this up because I have noticed that when there seems to be about 100 fans at a game, the official attendance is listed at 10,000 or 11,000. Is the small number of fans on the TV screen an illusion, or does the team intentionally inflate the numbers?

You can't always see the upper deck, so I'm gonna assume that's where the majority of the people are.

[Sport]

It seems to me that the Blue Jackets always give the exact number. I'll watch a game and think, "that's a decent crowd" and it'll come out to 11,000 in the box-score. Other teams inflate their numbers by reporting tickets sold and give-aways without actually counting the number of people who came in through the turnstiles. Their box score will say 11,000, but it looks like more like 6,000.

I was at the lowest attended game in Columbus history (I've actually been in attendance for the two smallest crowds in team history, so it definitely isn't my fault).There were 9,200 people there. A few days later they played in Atlanta and that was reported as the lowest attended game in Atlanta history with around 9,200 people. The crowd in Columbus looked much larger than the crowd in Atlanta, but that could just be the fact that I saw one game in person and the other I watched on televsion.

[Lee.]

Phoenix and Atnalta really need to start loading up the lower bowl WWE-style to make the numbers look better on television.

[Sport]

TJ Oshie will be out of the Blues' lineup for 3 months