Well, it looks as though playing on home ice is not an advantage for the Hamilton Bulldogs and Manitoba Moose. So far, the road squad has won each of the first three games in the series.
I must admit, that I CANNOT STAND listening to the radio announcers for the Bulldogs. I listened to some of the games over the internet and these guys are "homers". I HATE biased home team announcers. It is the same reason why I cannot stand CBC and they morons that do the Sabres games. Other teams with atrotious TV announcers include: Florida Panthers (Denis Potvin), Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins, San Jose Sharks.
Oh yeah, I saw Sydney Crosby in the store buying himself a new pacifier yesterday.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
12 and 25
So that confirms it. After San Jose's exit from the playoffs last night, we now have the 25th overall pick. I find it rather ironic that the same day we find out we get the 25th overall pick, a former 25th overall pick has departed us for the greener pastures of Russia.
Alexander Perezhogin has signed in Russia for significantly more money than he would have gotten here. It's a shame, too. Perezhogin was a solid player, but was one of Carbo's whipping boys. Despite being one of our better two-way players, he was benched often. The situation with him kind of reminds me of the one with Jan Bulis last year.
Anyway, it will be interesting to see how we use these two picks:
1) Pick 2 players with them and wait the 3-4 years it take those players to develop into something useful.
2) Trade the two picks for a higher pick this year. I am not sure how far we could move up, but I doubt we could get into the top 5. I imagine we could probably move up to 7 or 8.
3) Trade picks for an established NHL player. I really do not think this is likely. The only player we would receive in this trade is one who makes more money than he is worth on a team that does not contend. The pick + Samsonov for Aucoin rumors just won't go away.
4) Trade the picks for someone's 1st round pick NEXT year. It's a a hell of a gamble, but it would be pretty fun to trade these picks to say...Phoenix and hope for the Coyotes get a lottery pick next year.
Finally, here is a rundown of the players who were chosen 12th and 25th overall in the drafts since our last Stanley Cup:
2006 - Bryan Little (12th Atl) and Patrik Berglund (25th Stl)
2005 - Marc Staal (12th NYR) and Andrew Cogliano (25th Edm)
2004 - AJ Thelen (12th Min) and Rob Schremp (25th Edm)
2003 - Hugh Jessiman (12th NYR) and Anthony Stewart (25th Fla)
2002 - Steve Eminger (12th Was) and Cam Ward (25th Car)
2001 - Dan Hamhuis (12th Nas) and Perezhogin
2000 - Alexei Smirnov (12th Ana) and Steve Ott (25th Dal)
1999 - Denis Shvidki (12th Fla) and Mikhail Kuleshov (25th Col)
1998 - Alex Tanguay (12th Col) and Jiri Fischer (25th Det)
1997 - Marian Hossa (12th Ott) and Brenden Morrow (25th Dal)
1996 - Josh Holden (12th Van) and Peter Ratchuk (25th Col)
1995 - Teemu Riihijarvi (12th SJ) and Marc Denis (25th Col)
1994 - Wade Belak (12th Que/Col) and Vadim Sharifijanov (25th NJ)
1993 - Kenny Jonsson (12th Tor) and Kevyn Adams (25th Bos)
Alexander Perezhogin has signed in Russia for significantly more money than he would have gotten here. It's a shame, too. Perezhogin was a solid player, but was one of Carbo's whipping boys. Despite being one of our better two-way players, he was benched often. The situation with him kind of reminds me of the one with Jan Bulis last year.
Anyway, it will be interesting to see how we use these two picks:
1) Pick 2 players with them and wait the 3-4 years it take those players to develop into something useful.
2) Trade the two picks for a higher pick this year. I am not sure how far we could move up, but I doubt we could get into the top 5. I imagine we could probably move up to 7 or 8.
3) Trade picks for an established NHL player. I really do not think this is likely. The only player we would receive in this trade is one who makes more money than he is worth on a team that does not contend. The pick + Samsonov for Aucoin rumors just won't go away.
4) Trade the picks for someone's 1st round pick NEXT year. It's a a hell of a gamble, but it would be pretty fun to trade these picks to say...Phoenix and hope for the Coyotes get a lottery pick next year.
Finally, here is a rundown of the players who were chosen 12th and 25th overall in the drafts since our last Stanley Cup:
2006 - Bryan Little (12th Atl) and Patrik Berglund (25th Stl)
2005 - Marc Staal (12th NYR) and Andrew Cogliano (25th Edm)
2004 - AJ Thelen (12th Min) and Rob Schremp (25th Edm)
2003 - Hugh Jessiman (12th NYR) and Anthony Stewart (25th Fla)
2002 - Steve Eminger (12th Was) and Cam Ward (25th Car)
2001 - Dan Hamhuis (12th Nas) and Perezhogin
2000 - Alexei Smirnov (12th Ana) and Steve Ott (25th Dal)
1999 - Denis Shvidki (12th Fla) and Mikhail Kuleshov (25th Col)
1998 - Alex Tanguay (12th Col) and Jiri Fischer (25th Det)
1997 - Marian Hossa (12th Ott) and Brenden Morrow (25th Dal)
1996 - Josh Holden (12th Van) and Peter Ratchuk (25th Col)
1995 - Teemu Riihijarvi (12th SJ) and Marc Denis (25th Col)
1994 - Wade Belak (12th Que/Col) and Vadim Sharifijanov (25th NJ)
1993 - Kenny Jonsson (12th Tor) and Kevyn Adams (25th Bos)
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Dogs are our last hope...
Well, the Cincinnati Cyclones were defeated 5-3 in their game 7 against Dayton. This leaves the Hamilton Bulldogs as te only affiliate of the Habs playing hockey. Hamilton scored a big road win last night to take the series lead over Manitoba 1-0.
I got thinking about if Hamilton won the Calder Cup and how much it would mean. Last year, Hershey won it all. They are the Capitals' affiliate. A couple of years ago, the Philadelphia Phantoms won it and we all know how bad the Flyers were this year. We have to keep telling ourselves that AHL talent doesn't always equate to NHL talent.
With that being said, I can't wait to see all of our young guys flying around the ice during pre-season in September...
Obscure Hab of the day: Patrik Carnback
I got thinking about if Hamilton won the Calder Cup and how much it would mean. Last year, Hershey won it all. They are the Capitals' affiliate. A couple of years ago, the Philadelphia Phantoms won it and we all know how bad the Flyers were this year. We have to keep telling ourselves that AHL talent doesn't always equate to NHL talent.
With that being said, I can't wait to see all of our young guys flying around the ice during pre-season in September...
Obscure Hab of the day: Patrik Carnback
Friday, May 4, 2007
Ryder revisited
Oh yeah, while I was surfing around the NHL.com site and family of sites, I noticed some pull-down menus at the top. One of the menus is "NHL Player Sites". There were only about 10 of these total, but one of them is Michael Ryder's.
Team USA
As an American, the only positive thing about the Habs narrowly missing the playoffs was that I'd get to see Chris Higgins and Mike Komisarek don the American Sweater at the World Championships. A few weeks back, there was an article in the Gazette saying how both players were hoping to get an invite.
Unfortunately, neither of them are currently on the roster. I do not exactly know for sure if they were invited or not, but if they were not invited then I must say that some of the American coaches and GMs are on some heavy meth.
Instead of having Higgins there as a forward, the mighty Team USA has the following greats:
Nate Davis - Miami University is an average at best NCAA program.
Tobias Petersen - A 28 year-old career minor leaguer.
Adam Hall - an overhyped, underachieving 4th liner.
Instead of having Komisarek there as a defenseman, the mighty Team USA has the following greats:
Matt Greene - Notice the stellar -22 he put up this year.
Andrew Alberts
Andrew Hutchinson
Like I said, there is probably a fair chance that Higgins and Komisarek were invited and they probably both would have accepted the invite if not for their agents advising them against it. Both players are restricted free agents this summer and if they get hurt playing in this tournament, they will cost themselves, and more importantly, their agents a lot of money.
Agents suck.
Unfortunately, neither of them are currently on the roster. I do not exactly know for sure if they were invited or not, but if they were not invited then I must say that some of the American coaches and GMs are on some heavy meth.
Instead of having Higgins there as a forward, the mighty Team USA has the following greats:
Nate Davis - Miami University is an average at best NCAA program.
Tobias Petersen - A 28 year-old career minor leaguer.
Adam Hall - an overhyped, underachieving 4th liner.
Instead of having Komisarek there as a defenseman, the mighty Team USA has the following greats:
Matt Greene - Notice the stellar -22 he put up this year.
Andrew Alberts
Andrew Hutchinson
Like I said, there is probably a fair chance that Higgins and Komisarek were invited and they probably both would have accepted the invite if not for their agents advising them against it. Both players are restricted free agents this summer and if they get hurt playing in this tournament, they will cost themselves, and more importantly, their agents a lot of money.
Agents suck.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Game 7 for Cyclones
There was a link to this article on the front page of NHL.com today. Montreal's ECHL affiliate, the Cincinnati Cyclones are competing in the Kelly Cup playoffs.
After moving out to Davis, California 6 months ago, I was quite fortunate to see that the Cyclones would be visiting the local teams (Stockton Thunder and Fresno Falcons). The Cyclones were the only team from east of the Mississippi River to visit this area this year, so I HAD to go see them play in Stockton (about 45 minutes away). It was a pretty good game, but Gregory Stewart was the only Montreal prospect that played in the game. Montreal and Hamilton were both riddled with injuries at the time, which created a trickle-down effect with the prospects being called up.
Stewart was pretty big, but seemed a little slow and unmotivated. He did get in a fight, which was pretty much a draw.
I have already blogged about my trip to Stockton, CA to see the game. It is located on myspace, but I will copy and paste it for you here:
"Sunday, March 04, 2007
My trip to Stockton
Yesterday, I hopped in my truck and took a road trip to Lodi and Stockton, CA. I stopped in Lodi for lunch at a brewpub that I wanted to check out. Lodi is um, an interesting place. Seems quaint enough in the downtown area, but just outside of there were several dingy, run down homes. It was kind of like a trailer park in a city, except there weren't any trailers. Either way, I felt safe. The food was decent and the beer was something to be deisred. There was a bartender there who had a reall nice ass, but was kinda soft elsewhere. She saw my Cincy jersey on and she asked me if I actually played for them. I should have fucked with her and said "yes", but the question caught me off guard. When I told her I didn't play for them, she was like "oh, I was going to get your autograph". Then she walked away and didn't even look at me again. Stupid cuntwagon. Like 1 guy from a hockey team visiting from Cincy is going to rent a car and go out by himself 12 miles up the road to Lodi? Oh well.
Onwards to Stockton! My initial plan was to go to Stockton to watch a minor-league ECHL game between Stockton and Cincy. Apparently, this game was almost sold out, so I went to the box office and managed to buy myself a ticket. It really is a nice, new arena. Unfortunately, it is not in the nicest of neighborhoods.
I get back into my truck and decide to drive 3 miles up the road to the BevMo to see if they have any interesting beers that I can't find around here. Nothing special. A couple of interesting beers, but that's about it.
In the meantime, I was going to spend the extra 3-4 hours at a highly regarded brewpub called Valley Brewing. Unfortunately, this place is like a mile from the arena. I decide I should park equidistant from the arena in order to avoid an overly long walk as well as the traffic when the game is finished. Well, the first 1000 feet or so in the viscinity of the brewpub isn't too bad. As a matter of fact, it is dubbed the "Miracle Mile". No lie. It's probably a miracle if you don't have a crime committed against you in this mile. After that 1000 feet, the other 4000 feet is really fucking shady. I see a couple of nice homes and figure it is a nice side street to park on. So I park in front of this really nice home, and I realize it has a high wrought iron fence around with with big locks on the doors. I look across the street and there are a couple of shit hole houses with the same iron bars over all the windows and over all the doors. The car in front of me has "The Club" attatched to the steering wheel. I restart my car and search for another area to park. I couldnt find any. I end up parking in the lot directly across from the arena, which seemed safe enough. What this meant, though, is that I had to walk from my car the mile up the road to the brewpub. No problem at 3pm. Unfortunately, this also meant that I had to walk back from the brewpub to the arena at 7pm when it was dark and with a few beers in my system. Needless to say, I make it back ok after passing several ghetto marts.
The game was pretty good. I was seated next to this pretty hot blonde puck bunny. She was kind of annoying in a way because she was saying how well she knew all these hockey players. That's cool and all, but these guys are minor minor league players. They make maybe $30,000-$40,000 a year. It's not like they are overly special. Oh well, that seems to be the attitude in the area. She also seemed to be text messaging people for the entire duration of the game. Cincy wins, people yell at me. Blah. I leave and have absolutely no trouble with traffic and my car isn't broken into, so I'm pretty happy. On the way home, I realize that the speed limit on route 5 is 70mph. Cool! I make good time.
Afterword.
In retrospect, I was really retarded to walk in that town and to leave my car unattended. It seriously would have been safer for me to drink and drive. Crime is so bad in that town that I'm sure the last thing the cops have to worry about is some white kid drinking and driving. I looked at some stats today online and it's pretty scary.
-Stockton is #2 in the nation per capita when it comes to car theft. In 2004, 22.2 cars were stolen PER DAY. Yea, that's about 1 an hour.
-Stockton has the highest per capita rate of violent crime in the entire state of California. Yes, even worse than Compton or any other LA ghetto.
-Stockton is the "Asparagus Capital of the World"
-Murder rate is 1.82 times the national average
-Rape is 1.61 times the national average
-Robbery is 2.08 times the national average
-Aggravated Assault is 2.31 times the national average
-All Violent Crimes are 2.28 times the national average
-Car Theft is 2.42 times the national average."
Today's obscure Habs player of the day is Johan Witehall.
After moving out to Davis, California 6 months ago, I was quite fortunate to see that the Cyclones would be visiting the local teams (Stockton Thunder and Fresno Falcons). The Cyclones were the only team from east of the Mississippi River to visit this area this year, so I HAD to go see them play in Stockton (about 45 minutes away). It was a pretty good game, but Gregory Stewart was the only Montreal prospect that played in the game. Montreal and Hamilton were both riddled with injuries at the time, which created a trickle-down effect with the prospects being called up.
Stewart was pretty big, but seemed a little slow and unmotivated. He did get in a fight, which was pretty much a draw.
I have already blogged about my trip to Stockton, CA to see the game. It is located on myspace, but I will copy and paste it for you here:
"Sunday, March 04, 2007
My trip to Stockton
Yesterday, I hopped in my truck and took a road trip to Lodi and Stockton, CA. I stopped in Lodi for lunch at a brewpub that I wanted to check out. Lodi is um, an interesting place. Seems quaint enough in the downtown area, but just outside of there were several dingy, run down homes. It was kind of like a trailer park in a city, except there weren't any trailers. Either way, I felt safe. The food was decent and the beer was something to be deisred. There was a bartender there who had a reall nice ass, but was kinda soft elsewhere. She saw my Cincy jersey on and she asked me if I actually played for them. I should have fucked with her and said "yes", but the question caught me off guard. When I told her I didn't play for them, she was like "oh, I was going to get your autograph". Then she walked away and didn't even look at me again. Stupid cuntwagon. Like 1 guy from a hockey team visiting from Cincy is going to rent a car and go out by himself 12 miles up the road to Lodi? Oh well.
Onwards to Stockton! My initial plan was to go to Stockton to watch a minor-league ECHL game between Stockton and Cincy. Apparently, this game was almost sold out, so I went to the box office and managed to buy myself a ticket. It really is a nice, new arena. Unfortunately, it is not in the nicest of neighborhoods.
I get back into my truck and decide to drive 3 miles up the road to the BevMo to see if they have any interesting beers that I can't find around here. Nothing special. A couple of interesting beers, but that's about it.
In the meantime, I was going to spend the extra 3-4 hours at a highly regarded brewpub called Valley Brewing. Unfortunately, this place is like a mile from the arena. I decide I should park equidistant from the arena in order to avoid an overly long walk as well as the traffic when the game is finished. Well, the first 1000 feet or so in the viscinity of the brewpub isn't too bad. As a matter of fact, it is dubbed the "Miracle Mile". No lie. It's probably a miracle if you don't have a crime committed against you in this mile. After that 1000 feet, the other 4000 feet is really fucking shady. I see a couple of nice homes and figure it is a nice side street to park on. So I park in front of this really nice home, and I realize it has a high wrought iron fence around with with big locks on the doors. I look across the street and there are a couple of shit hole houses with the same iron bars over all the windows and over all the doors. The car in front of me has "The Club" attatched to the steering wheel. I restart my car and search for another area to park. I couldnt find any. I end up parking in the lot directly across from the arena, which seemed safe enough. What this meant, though, is that I had to walk from my car the mile up the road to the brewpub. No problem at 3pm. Unfortunately, this also meant that I had to walk back from the brewpub to the arena at 7pm when it was dark and with a few beers in my system. Needless to say, I make it back ok after passing several ghetto marts.
The game was pretty good. I was seated next to this pretty hot blonde puck bunny. She was kind of annoying in a way because she was saying how well she knew all these hockey players. That's cool and all, but these guys are minor minor league players. They make maybe $30,000-$40,000 a year. It's not like they are overly special. Oh well, that seems to be the attitude in the area. She also seemed to be text messaging people for the entire duration of the game. Cincy wins, people yell at me. Blah. I leave and have absolutely no trouble with traffic and my car isn't broken into, so I'm pretty happy. On the way home, I realize that the speed limit on route 5 is 70mph. Cool! I make good time.
Afterword.
In retrospect, I was really retarded to walk in that town and to leave my car unattended. It seriously would have been safer for me to drink and drive. Crime is so bad in that town that I'm sure the last thing the cops have to worry about is some white kid drinking and driving. I looked at some stats today online and it's pretty scary.
-Stockton is #2 in the nation per capita when it comes to car theft. In 2004, 22.2 cars were stolen PER DAY. Yea, that's about 1 an hour.
-Stockton has the highest per capita rate of violent crime in the entire state of California. Yes, even worse than Compton or any other LA ghetto.
-Stockton is the "Asparagus Capital of the World"
-Murder rate is 1.82 times the national average
-Rape is 1.61 times the national average
-Robbery is 2.08 times the national average
-Aggravated Assault is 2.31 times the national average
-All Violent Crimes are 2.28 times the national average
-Car Theft is 2.42 times the national average."
Today's obscure Habs player of the day is Johan Witehall.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Ryder a first-line NHL'er?
I want to make it clear that I like Michael Ryder. He is the best goal-scorer that this team has had since Stephane Richer in the mid-late 1980s. With that being said, he should not be a first-line player. The man is a power-play specialist, but is highly deficient during 5 on 5 situations. Here's some food for thought:
Ryder had 30 goals, 28 assists and was -25 in 82 games played this season.
Of his 30 goals, 17 of them were on the power play, 2 were short handed, and 11 were even-strength
Of his 28 assists, 17 were on the power play and 11 were even-strength
Our first-liner had 11 even-strength goals and 11 even-strength assists this year in 82 games. 22 points, that's it.
Hell, Sergei Samsonov scored 9 even-strength goals and had 13 even strength assists totalling 22 points as well. More shockingly, he did this in 20 fewer games and averaged nearly 4 minutes less of ice time a game than Ryder.
If the Habs are ever going to succeed, they need to upgrade their first line. Ryder is not the man to get the job done. He is a nice 4th line player who can be on the roster to score goals on the power play. Other than that, he is a huge liability and is taking up valuable ice time to a prospect that has more upside and skill. Re-signing him would be a great mistake for us. We should trade him for prospects or trade him and some picks for a legit first-line player.
I still believe that a line with Kovalev-Koivu-Samsonov could work. They need time together to develop some chemistry. Sammy will be bought out, so we will never get to see it. If we deal Ryder, that would open a spot on the first line for a legit first-liner or a younger guy like S. Kostitsyn or Perezhogin.
I like Higgins-Plekanec-A.Kostitsyn as a 2nd line.
As for the checking line, I would like to see Begin-Lapierre-Perezhogin/Murray
4th line should have Latendresse-Grabovski-S. Kostitsyn
My obscure Hab of the day: Francois Groleau
Ryder had 30 goals, 28 assists and was -25 in 82 games played this season.
Of his 30 goals, 17 of them were on the power play, 2 were short handed, and 11 were even-strength
Of his 28 assists, 17 were on the power play and 11 were even-strength
Our first-liner had 11 even-strength goals and 11 even-strength assists this year in 82 games. 22 points, that's it.
Hell, Sergei Samsonov scored 9 even-strength goals and had 13 even strength assists totalling 22 points as well. More shockingly, he did this in 20 fewer games and averaged nearly 4 minutes less of ice time a game than Ryder.
If the Habs are ever going to succeed, they need to upgrade their first line. Ryder is not the man to get the job done. He is a nice 4th line player who can be on the roster to score goals on the power play. Other than that, he is a huge liability and is taking up valuable ice time to a prospect that has more upside and skill. Re-signing him would be a great mistake for us. We should trade him for prospects or trade him and some picks for a legit first-line player.
I still believe that a line with Kovalev-Koivu-Samsonov could work. They need time together to develop some chemistry. Sammy will be bought out, so we will never get to see it. If we deal Ryder, that would open a spot on the first line for a legit first-liner or a younger guy like S. Kostitsyn or Perezhogin.
I like Higgins-Plekanec-A.Kostitsyn as a 2nd line.
As for the checking line, I would like to see Begin-Lapierre-Perezhogin/Murray
4th line should have Latendresse-Grabovski-S. Kostitsyn
My obscure Hab of the day: Francois Groleau
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