NHL (2020-2021) v. Draft, sign, & trade.

[TheCountOfNYC]

Of the active goalies, I think Fleury, Quick, and Lundqvist are definite Hall of Famers. As Kev stated, this era really didn’t have a dominant goalie, but these three are the closest thing to it. Price and Rinne could get in as well. And for the non-active goalies, IMO Luongo is unquestionably a Hall of Famer.

Also, looking at pg’s list, Mike Richter is already in the Hall of Fame since 2008.

[SchecterShredder]

Luongo goes in on the first ballot. I think MAF will, too, when his time comes.

I'm not so sure about Quick. I feel like he was one of the most feared goalies for a 4-5 year stretch (a la Hasek back in the day), but otherwise just a good goalie the other years. Although, definitely surprised he's where he is on the all time wins leaderboard.

[gmillerdrake]

The fact that Mark Stone gets to keep playing hockey after cheap shorting Bozak two months ago and concussing him.....no games served on suspension......still ticks me off. Why irks me even more is that we didn’t bring up a scrub to drill him and take him out.

[jingle.boy]

Osgood too... though I gather the thought process is that the Ilitch family plumber could've slapped on a pair of pads and probably got almost that many wins and a couple of cups given the powerhouse that was Detroit when he played.  Plus, one ring was as a backup to Vernon.  Moog is interesting, since all three Cups were as a backup, but most of his career as a clear #1 starter was largely good, but rarely great (even though he was my 2nd fave goalie as a kid).

I assume that's the thinking as well.  I also got the impression (as a jealous observer from afar) that Wings fans kinda felt like they won in spite of, rather than because of, Osgood.

I'll defer to Rom, but I agree with this.  From a non-Detroit vantage point, Osgood was a capable and competent goalie.  Nothing terribly more, nothing much less.  I don't have much recollection of the 08/09 back-to-back with Pitt - I just remember they were very entertaining series'

Luongo goes in on the first ballot. I think MAF will, too, when his time comes.

I'm not so sure about Quick. I feel like he was one of the most feared goalies for a 4-5 year stretch (a la Hasek back in the day), but otherwise just a good goalie the other years. Although, definitely surprised he's where he is on the all time wins leaderboard.

On this, I agree fully.

[KevShmev]

The fact that Mark Stone gets to keep playing hockey after cheap shorting Bozak two months ago and concussing him.....no games served on suspension......still ticks me off. Why irks me even more is that we didn’t bring up a scrub to drill him and take him out.

I hear that.

Wasn't thrilled to lose in OT last night, but after falling behind early, it was nice to see a spirited comeback and a good fight to the finish.  Vegas is a tough team to beat.

[gmillerdrake]

The fact that Mark Stone gets to keep playing hockey after cheap shorting Bozak two months ago and concussing him.....no games served on suspension......still ticks me off. Why irks me even more is that we didn’t bring up a scrub to drill him and take him out.

I hear that.

Wasn't thrilled to lose in OT last night, but after falling behind early, it was nice to see a spirited comeback and a good fight to the finish.  Vegas is a tough team to beat.

Yeah they are but they’re not invincible like they’re pimped out to be.

Vegas still hasn’t beaten the Blues in regulation. Blues are 6-0-4 against them historically.

[pg1067]

Also, looking at pg’s list, Mike Richter is already in the Hall of Fame since 2008.

Then someone should let whomever maintains the HHOF website know:  https://www.hhof.com/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMembersByName.jsp?type=Player#R (as well as Hockey Reference and pretty much every other internet source).

[KevShmev]

Vegas still hasn’t beaten the Blues in regulation. Blues are 6-0-4 against them historically.

Let's make that 7-0-4 later today. 

[jingle.boy]

Also, looking at pg’s list, Mike Richter is already in the Hall of Fame since 2008.

Then someone should let whomever maintains the HHOF website know:  https://www.hhof.com/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMembersByName.jsp?type=Player#R (as well as Hockey Reference and pretty much every other internet source).

He was inducted to the US Hockey Hall of Fame.  Which shouldn't be too hard to get in to. 

[KevShmev]

I guess we jinxed the Blues. 

[gmillerdrake]

I guess we jinxed the Blues. 

No. That game was lost before it started by the decision to start Husso. Horrible decision by Berube. Binnington had five days off....played last night......should have played again.

[jingle.boy]

Well... the Jets did to the Leafs pretty much what the Leafs did to the Oil.  Took 5 points over 3 game.     They just didn't have that certain je ne c'est quois last night.  Then those 2 bullshit penalties at the end capped off any chance of a tying it up.  They better put a stompin on Ottawa tonight, or it's gonna be a long 4-day break.  1-4 in their last 5, and Freddie has not looked terribly impressive at all.  Not good for the team, and not good for him in a contract year. 

Calgary is looking pretty good under Sutter.

[KevShmev]

I guess we jinxed the Blues. 

No. That game was lost before it started by the decision to start Husso. Horrible decision by Berube. Binnington had five days off....played last night......should have played again.

I suppose.  I don't put the loss on Husso, but it seems like Berube likes each goalie playing one game when they are doing games on back to back nights.

[romdrums]

Osgood was awesome at giving up the occasional goal from center ice.   

He was trying to one-up Jon Casey.   

Dan Cloutier was the champ though.  That goal he gave up to Nicklas Lidstrom in game three of the 2002 Western Conference Quarterfinal series broke the Canucks and broke his career.

[pg1067]

Osgood was awesome at giving up the occasional goal from center ice.   

He was trying to one-up Jon Casey.   

Dan Cloutier was the champ though.  That goal he gave up to Nicklas Lidstrom in game three of the 2002 Western Conference Quarterfinal series broke the Canucks and broke his career.

LOL...he was with the Kings for a brief and painful time.  Saw so many memes like this:

[Anguyen92]

Man, the goalies for the Kings in the mid-2000s to late 00s like Dan Cloutier before Quick established himself as the starter was just painful.  A horrifying revolving door.  That's something you'd like to see when you started getting into this team and into the sport.  Makes you think things cannot get worst and can only get better at that time.

[pg1067]

Man, the goalies for the Kings in the mid-2000s to late 00s like Dan Cloutier before Quick established himself as the starter was just painful.  A horrifying revolving door.  That's something you'd like to see when you started getting into this team and into the sport.  Makes you think things cannot get worst and can only get better at that time.

Tell me about it.

In 2001-02, the Kings used only two goalies:  Felix Potvin and Jamie Storr.  The following season, it was the same two plus Cristobal Huet.  For the next however many seasons until Quick became the established #1, we had the likes of:

Roman Cechmanek
Mathieu Chouinard
Milan Hnilicka
Mathieu Garon
Jason LaBarbera
Adam Hauser
Sean "Older Than I Am" Burke
Dan "Beachball" Cloutier
Barry Brust
Yutaka Fukufuji (we were actually excited about this guy!)
Erik Ersberg
Jean-Sebastien Aubin
Daniel Taylor
and, of course...
Jonathan Bernier (some Kings fans were STILL calling for him to be the starter over Quick even after they won the Cup in 2012!)

[jingle.boy]

Sounds eerily similar to the Leafs revolving door of goaltenders after Belfour left in '06, until they signed Freddie in '16.

Mikael Tellqvist
Jean Sebastien Aubin
Andrew (Red Light) Raycroft
Vessa Toskala
Martin Gerber
CuJo (back for another taste!)
Jonas Gustavsson
Jean-Sebastien Giguere
James Reimer (who can rot in hell alongside Kerry Fraser  )
Ben Scrivens
Jonathan Bernier

[gmillerdrake]

This is horrible.....poor kid was 19. And watching the play he got hit with the puck on it's just a random deal, not even a real 'shot'.....just a dump in.



https://sports.yahoo.com/russian-hockey-player-timur-faizutdinov-dies-at-19-after-being-hit-in-the-head-by-a-puck-144747566.html

[jingle.boy]

I'd heard about this.  Just awful to have such a freak thing happen to a kid.  Heartbreaking

[KevShmev]

Yeah, that is awful.  I really am amazed more players don't get seriously injured when you see how often they dive in front of shots.  Hockey players have balls as big as church bells to do that on a regular basis.

[TAC]

Oh damn.

[TheCountOfNYC]

Rangers with their coaching staff: Wildly inconsistent with their top players barely producing.

Rangers with Hartford’s coaching staff: Blow out the playoff contending, rival Flyers 9-0. Star center Mika Zibanejad gets a hat trick after being mostly absent from the scoresheet this year.

[gmillerdrake]

Blues are a MESS. They have zero identity as a team. One moment they're taking 12 of 16 possible points on the road....the next moment they look like they've never played hockey before. Now, they have been hit by the injury bug pretty hard this season but that's still no excuse to play as 'soft' as they've played this season.

It's painfully obvious they miss that veteran leadership of Petrangelo, Steen and Boumeester. Paryako was supposed to fill the void physically for Petro on D which he's more than capable of doing. He was really 'the' only player that we couldn't afford to lose this season and he's been out now for three weeks with no indication of when he's coming back. He has a bulging disc in his back and it's just not good. As the Blues have proven, we have the players to fulfill the 'next man up' mentality but losing Paryako was/is brutal. Him being gone drastically alters the defense.

That being said it's no excuse as to why the Blues refuse to play as a team. It's a bunch of dudes playing an individual game night in and night out. After watching them play as a group of guys with a common goal that are playing for one another the year they won they cup.....it's simple to recognize when your team isn't all pulling on the same rope at the same time......and it's infuriating to watch.

I'll consider a playoff berth our 'cup' this season.....because if I had to bet right now I'd bet $100 that they miss the playoffs by 6 or 8 pts. They're just an average team playing average hockey at best with no real signs of turning the corner.

[KevShmev]

Sadly, I agree with all of that.  They are a mess (I said those exact words to a co-worker today), and I am not sure it is fixable this season.

[jingle.boy]

Damn... once the injuries pile up, and a team starts a downward spiral like that, it's hard to stop swirling.  Leafs have 2 games B2B against the Flames, then another 5 days off.  Going 1-5 into this 4-day break I hope was a wakeup call.  Their injuries are quite as debilitating as what you guys seem to have gone thru, but Freddie isn't right; neither is Matthews.  Simmonds was playing great in a 2nd/3rd line character role, so his presence will be welcomed back.  Tonight and tomorrow are going to be an indicator of things to come, methinks.

[dparrott]

Alice In Chains should record a dark scary song for the Kraken.  Whenever I think of that team I hum the intro to The Thing That Should Not Be.

I just listened to AIC's Hollow.  That intro music would be great at a Kraken game.

[Anguyen92]

^^ Yeah, sure.  Why not?  Have a very well known kickass band in the area do something to get people pumped at the start at Kraken games.  The Sharks come out to Seek & Destroy.

[jingle.boy]

Bad puck luck for Anderson and the Leafs last night, to have 2 goals sneak thru from long distance, ricocheting off your own D-men.    They were the better team last night (but still didn’t play terribly well); just didn’t get the better luck. Dem’s da breaks. Gotta work their way out of this slump.

I’ll torture myself and watch tonight. Probably with a few beers.

[KevShmev]

The Blues eked out a shootout win over the Sharks. Yippee. This team appears destined to either lose their playoff spot to the Kings, or hang on to that last spot and get pummeled by Vegas in the first round.  Be interesting to see if Armstrong makes a move or two before the trade deadline, as this team clearly needs a jolt.

[King Postwhore]

B's postpones 2 upcoming games because of Covid protocols.

[Anguyen92]

The Blues eked out a shootout win over the Sharks. Yippee. This team appears destined to either lose their playoff spot to the Kings, or hang on to that last spot and get pummeled by Vegas in the first round.  Be interesting to see if Armstrong makes a move or two before the trade deadline, as this team clearly needs a jolt.

Oh, the Blues are going to be fine.  They will secure that 4th spot unless they really suck more than the Kings in the remaining games.  I just don't know how the Kings are going to get that spot.  Still got 4 games against the Avs and 5 against the Golden Knights.  Not going to be a good time for those games.  They can pummel the Ducks and Sharks more.  That would be fun and more enjoyable for me.  Golden Knights are rolling as expected.  They are playing like their window and time is now. 

I don't think Rob Blake is going to add at the deadline.  Even if the Kings have the space and the assets to make the move, I'm going to ask the question, "Would this move be good enough to beat the Golden Knights now, make it to the playoffs, and beat the Golden Knights in a playoff series?"  If the answer is no, then there's no point and they should stand pat and continue getting our younger players some more games in and build that competitive drive and confidence and focus on the off-season on what they can improve and add to the roster.

[gmillerdrake]

The hits just keep on coming for the Blues. Oscar Sundquist out for the season with a torn ACL. Awkward hit from behind by his own team mate Clifford. Sundquist is a jack of all trades.....plays a mean PK and it IMO one of the most valuable and versatile players on the Blues team. His absence, along with Paryako’s effectively ends any chance of the Blues doing anything of meaning this season. Just brutal.

[jingle.boy]

Jack Campbell with back-to-back shutouts (albeit, 9 games apart!), while Freddie has been running at an .860 save percentage during their 1-6 slump.  This better be Campbell's cage to tend until he proves otherwise,

[KevShmev]

The hits just keep on coming for the Blues. Oscar Sundquist out for the season with a torn ACL. Awkward hit from behind by his own team mate Clifford. Sundquist is a jack of all trades.....plays a mean PK and it IMO one of the most valuable and versatile players on the Blues team. His absence, along with Paryako’s effectively ends any chance of the Blues doing anything of meaning this season. Just brutal.

As we discussed offline, a big loss, yes.  But hey, we got a win over the Sharks tonight which should help in getting that playoff spot to ensure that 1st round knockout.