Official NHL 08/09 Thread ! ! ! !

[wesrman]

OMFG i need it to start allready.

Less than a month until preseason thank god.

[BankItDrew]

my favorite team is obv Leafs because I live in the GTA.

One question though: Who is their starting centre? ukes:

[wesrman]

my favorite team is obv Leafs because I live in the GTA.

One question though: Who is their starting centre? ukes:

We offered Mats 7 mill, which i think was dumb. He should take a cut to play for us or beat it. I love him but we need to rebuild, and i think we're on the right track thanks to Fletcher. Bring in some young Canadians imo.

New coach Ron Wilson is from my little town.

[BennyLaRue]

The Leafs will lose 60 games, imo. But that's ok if it means a fresh start.

[wesrman]

No way we lose 60 games.

I think we're better than we were last year cuz we got a few guys that can play D, and we almost made the playoffs last year.

We lost Tucker but brought in Mayers, lost McCabe who sucked in our own end, got rid of Wellwood who did nothing on either end, and got rid of Raycroft. All pluses imo.

The only one we will miss is Sundin.

[a500lbgorilla]

mmmm pens

[WildBobAA]

lol Wings will crush everyone

[wesrman]

The Leafs will lose 60 games, imo. But that's ok if it means a fresh start.

Where u from Benny??? and who do you like???

[ProZachNation]

lol Wings will crush everyone

yup

[Galapogos]

I don't have high hopes for the Canucks I'm afraid...

[wesrman]

I don't have high hopes for the Canucks I'm afraid...

Sometimes thats not a bad thing. Maybe they will surprise you, and if not then at least they didnt disapoint.

[BennyLaRue]

The Leafs will lose 60 games, imo. But that's ok if it means a fresh start.

Where u from Benny??? and who do you like???

I'm a realistic Leafs fan from Ontario.

[wesrman]

The Leafs will lose 60 games, imo. But that's ok if it means a fresh start.

Where u from Benny??? and who do you like???

I'm a pessimistic Leafs fan from Ontario.

FYP.

Where in Ontario??? Im by the Falls.

Im realistic too, but losing 60 games is bit harsh. I think we will be close to making the playoffs, but it will depend on how well Toskala and the new guys play, whether or not we make it.

I agree with you that either way its good as long as we're rebuilding with a good foundation.

[BankItDrew]

i've been saying for a couple years that the Leafs are going to get worse before they get any better. I'm an optimistic fan for the future but a realist for the present. I am not confident they will make the playoffs this year. Although they took a drastic step forward on D, their O has gotten significantly worse.

[Alexos]

Leafs will suck even more than usual this year... !!! HAHAHAA!!!

pretty sure WE will win the cup this year

[BankItDrew]

pretty sure WE will win the cup this year

pretty sure u need a good goalie to do this

[BennyLaRue]

i've been saying for a couple years that the Leafs are going to get worse before they get any better. I'm an optimistic fan for the future but a realist for the present. I am not confident they will make the playoffs this year. Although they took a drastic step forward on D, their O has gotten significantly worse.

This. And while Finger and Mayers will help on D, the PK unit in particular, I wouldn't call the defense particularly good overall. Frogren is totally unproven and, while he wasn't that great in TO, Hal Gill was at least solid and they don't have his services anymore. Raycroft was shite, but a 41-year old CuJo is not guaranteed to be an improvement. It doesn't add up to much better than last season, when they had the 4th worst D in the league. Any injuries and they're fucked.

60 games was maybe a stretch. It'll be 50-55 easily though.

[BankItDrew]

Yahoo! FTR Fantasy Draft this year?

[Alexos]

pretty sure WE will win the cup this year

pretty sure u need a good goalie to do this

uhh, level?

[pgil]

I really hope that Toronto either finishes in a comfortable 6th spot in the East this year, or is last in the league. No more of this almost sneaking into the playoffs and then getting a mediocre draft pick year after year.

There are a group of teams that are stuck in perpetual mediocrity because they are not willing to go through a complete rebuilding process that basically needs at least 3 years to be done right. it requires the drafting and molding of young talent along with the acquisition of some veteran leaders to help out the next generation of superstars. But getting that next generation requires high draft picks. So you either need to suck balls and finish last, or you need to trade talented older (but not too old yet) players to move up positions in the draft, but that is becoming less of an option as you really need to swap a decent player plus another high 1st rounder to get anywhere near the top 3 picks seemingly.

[Miffed22001]

go flyers!

[wesrman]

go flyers!

BAN! ! ! !

[blackatom]

go flyers!

BAN! ! ! !

[BankItDrew]

go flyers!

BAN! ! ! !

[spin_md]

Flames fan here...

I think our off-season moves weren't particularly great, but the new adds (Bertuzzi, Cammalleri) should mesh with the Keenan style, I guess.

We'll see how we do...

[bigred]

is this the sport with ice?

[wesrman]

is this the sport with ice?

If you like soccer, then you would love hockey if you gave it a chance. Its faster, rougher, more exciting and has fighting. Its the greatest sport by so far its not even remotely close imo.

[mrhappy333]

[GatorJH]

I thought that hockey league, the ummmmmm, what was it called again? Crap, I can't remember. Anyway I thought it disbanded a few years ago?

[wesrman]

I thought that hockey league, the ummmmmm, what was it called again? Crap, I can't remember. Anyway I thought it disbanded a few years ago?

HAHA very clever. Did u come up with this all by yourself or did mommy help you???

[GatorJH]

I thought that hockey league, the ummmmmm, what was it called again? Crap, I can't remember. Anyway I thought it disbanded a few years ago?

HAHA very clever. Did u come up with this all by yourself or did mommy help you???

mommy couldn't remember the name of the league either so it was alll meeee.

[wesrman]

I thought that hockey league, the ummmmmm, what was it called again? Crap, I can't remember. Anyway I thought it disbanded a few years ago?

HAHA very clever. Did u come up with this all by yourself or did mommy help you???

mommy couldn't remember the name of the league either so it was alll meeee.

LOL.

[wesrman]

A couple news pieces from today.

Pat Quinn will coach Team Canada @ the World Junior Championships. (Great move imo)

Canucks are retiring Trevor Linden's jersey.

[meeloche]

Ok so semi hijack just got NHL 09 for xbox 3. The be a pro mode is so sick my god. /hijack

Go Canucks shine up your luckbox for the season please k thx

[wesrman]

Ok so semi hijack just got NHL 09 for xbox 3. The be a pro mode is so sick my god. /hijack

Go Canucks shine up your luckbox for the season please k thx

Its all relevant. IMO Its better if we can keep most of the hockey in one thread so we dont get 45 different threads like football has.

I havent played it, but i saw a preview of it on G4TECHTV and it looks insane.

[vqc]

Go sharks.

*sniff. win something, please.

[jyms]

Huge leaf fan here, and the 55 losses is about right. I may be one of the only leaf fans not looking through rose coloured glasses on a yearly basis

[wesrman]

Sabres @ Leafs Monday night ! ! ! !

Cant fucking wait.

[PokerSwede]

Someone set up a FTR fantasy league! I wanna play!

Go Bruins btw!

[PokerSwede]

Such a classic team! I miss the Whalers..

(Gotta love Brass Bonanza http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bwZbWZhAaM)

[wesrman]

Do me a favor PokerSwede. Go tell Mats to make up his fucking mind already. K thanks. :P

[PokerSwede]

Do me a favor PokerSwede. Go tell Mats to make up his fucking mind already. K thanks. :P

Hehe yeah I know :P From Swedish sources/interviews with Mats he still hasn't decided. Apparently Ottawa and Montreal are talking to him but he's saying he's flattered by the interest but is probably going to wait until a bit into the season before he makes up his mind. :S

FYI, he was in Barcelona playing poker during last week

[WildBobAA]

Are the leafs actually going to make the playoffs this year? I mean, it takes some real talent to miss the playoffs 3 years in a row when 16/30 teams make it. Also, learn how to spell "leaves".

[wesrman]

Are the leafs actually going to make the playoffs this year? Also, learn how to spell "leaves".

Only if everything goes perfectly. By that i mean Toskala stands on his head and we get serious amounts of scoring from people that arent known for scoring a lot of goals.

LOL @ Jyms comment cuz i think its the other way around and no one is optimistic except me. And thats only cuz im so happy that we are starting to bring in some Canadians and more importantly some guys that can play a little in their own end.

I think if we could have not gave up 30 odd man rushes against every game last year, we could have made the playoffs.

Either way we are rebuilding finally and we actually drafted a Canadian for the first time since Pogge. Thank god (again) for Cliff Fletcher.

[jyms]

Mats is going to the Rangers as soon as they figure out how to move some players and cap space.

[wesrman]

Mats is going to the Rangers as soon as they figure out how to move some players and cap space.

Good. Thanks for everything, but its time we moved on.
And LOL@ him not going to Detroit last year.

[wesrman]

Hey Swede u watching this game???

[PokerSwede]

Hey Swede u watching this game???

You mean the Penguins - Senators game in Stockholm? Nah, I wish I would've but I'm in the US nowdays :-/
Hopefully watching a lot of games over here though

[a500lbgorilla]

how'd the pens look?

[wesrman]

how'd the pens look?

Meh, i couldnt watch much of it cuz of my contempt for the Sens.

The ice looked shitty and i saw the refs giving the rink crew shit for the crappy job they did removing the snow..lol.

[Sasquach991]

I wasn't impressed by any team Sunday. Woulda been nice to see the Saturdays games too but too much college football to show.
At least Alabama won.

[wesrman]

I wasn't impressed by any team Sunday. Woulda been nice to see the Saturdays games too but too much college football to show.
At least Alabama won.

Welcome.

[wesrman]

SUPER FUCKING FIST PUMP BUMP CUZ THE FIRST LEAF GAME IS TOMORROW NIGHT ! ! ! !

[gabe]

im gonna be in toronto tomorrow night

[wesrman]

im gonna be in toronto tomorrow night

Thats cool, but the game is in Detroit.

Do you like hockey Gabe???

[meeloche]

wow the leafs actually have a worse chance of winning hockey games than the canucks. Which is pretty sad actually.

I'm up for a more points bet if anyone's interested.

[JL]

wow the leafs actually have a worse chance of winning hockey games than the canucks. Which is pretty sad actually.

I'm up for a more points bet if anyone's interested.

I think the canucks will make the playoffs this year as long as the defense stays healthy and Luongo plays well.

[Galapogos]

wow the leafs actually have a worse chance of winning hockey games than the canucks. Which is pretty sad actually.

I'm up for a more points bet if anyone's interested.

I think the canucks will make the playoffs this year as long as the defense stays healthy and Luongo plays well.

I've been most pleasantly surprised thus far. But preseason is preseason. We'll have to wait and see what happens when the big leaguers are all on the ice.

Haha on a sidenote. I just remembered that Simpsons where Burns makes a bet with some other billionaire over who's company softball team will win in a game. So Burns stacks his with ringers by hiring them to work at his power plant. And when Scioscia says he doesn't want to play he just wants to work at the plant Burns says, "One more outburst like that and I'll
send you back to the big leagues!''

Semi-random tangent but it made me laugh.

[wesrman]

Haha on a sidenote. I just remembered that Simpsons where Burns makes a bet with some other billionaire over who's company softball team will win in a game. So Burns stacks his with ringers by hiring them to work at his power plant. And when Scioscia says he doesn't want to play he just wants to work at the plant Burns says, "One more outburst like that and I'll
send you back to the big leagues!''

Semi-random tangent but it made me laugh.

Shave those side burns Mattingly.

[meeloche]

lol

[ProZachNation]

Wings look unstoppable this year... err again.... errr every year.

[JL]

Wings look unstoppable this year... err again.... errr every year.

Damn Canucks were willing to pay Sundin $10million dollars. I say take that money and buy the Red Wings' scouting staff.

[BankItDrew]

Rumor has it the Maple Leafs are going to win the cup this year.

[WildBobAA]

wake me when the playoffs start

[JL]

Rumor has it the Maple Leafs are going to win the cup this year.

ROFLMAO

Bet?

[wesrman]

Wings look unstoppable this year... err again.... errr every year.

Not tonight they didnt.

[Galapogos]

Canucks spanked the Flames so bad tonight. Still not as bad as they got spanked last game but fuck that! New season!

[JL]

Saturday's rematch should be epic.

LOL at Kiprusoff who now has a 6.00 GAA.

[pgil]

was a great toronto/detroit game last night, except for one thing. I was watching it on my DVR and with about 40 seconds left in a 3-2 game with a crucial faceoff coming, the thing stopped. I think because of all of the opening ceremonies the game ran extra-long, so I missed the final 42 seconds. I had to jump up and run to the internet to find out if they held on or gave it up (like they would have last year).

[Galapogos]

Saturday's rematch should be epic.

LOL at Kiprusoff who now has a 6.00 GAA.

Do you know why Bertuzzi is getting booed now? Is it just because it's the cool thing in the league to do? I honestly thought it was a dumb thing to do, that guy gave us some of our best games.

[wesrman]

was a great toronto/detroit game last night, except for one thing. I was watching it on my DVR and with about 40 seconds left in a 3-2 game with a crucial faceoff coming, the thing stopped. I think because of all of the opening ceremonies the game ran extra-long, so I missed the final 42 seconds. I had to jump up and run to the internet to find out if they held on or gave it up (like they would have last year).

Ouch.

This is why i set all sports to finish recording 1 hour late.

[pgil]

will have to do that. didn't know it was an option.

[Sasquach991]

was a great toronto/detroit game last night, except for one thing. I was watching it on my DVR and with about 40 seconds left in a 3-2 game with a crucial faceoff coming, the thing stopped. I think because of all of the opening ceremonies the game ran extra-long, so I missed the final 42 seconds. I had to jump up and run to the internet to find out if they held on or gave it up (like they would have last year).

Ouch.

This is why i set all sports to finish recording 1 hour late.

I use 2 hours late.

I was so glad the wings lost. My fav team is the Preds and anyone playing the wings

[BankItDrew]

Rumor has it the Maple Leafs are going to win the cup this year.

ROFLMAO

Bet?

TSN has them @ 70-1 to tin the cup. If you give me those odds on a <$10 bet, I'm game.

[JL]

Saturday's rematch should be epic.

LOL at Kiprusoff who now has a 6.00 GAA.

Do you know why Bertuzzi is getting booed now? Is it just because it's the cool thing in the league to do? I honestly thought it was a dumb thing to do, that guy gave us some of our best games.

I've come to the conclusion that most people in this world are retarded.
That and most Canadian hockey fans are shit faced by the time the puck drops.

Hell, if I was drunk at the game last night I would have been booing him too!