Hockey anyone?

[Bai Qi44]

Wow. Nonis has gone beyond my expectations. Sean Brown isn't much of an addition, but at least he's better than our AHL d-men (I don't consider Bieska an AHL d-men anymore). Nonis managed to grab Carney, who's a pretty damn good d-man and Nonoren (can't spell his name) who's a pretty good goalie. He traded away McCarthy and McCarthy although played like crap his first half, was actually quite good in his last 15 or so games... However, this move has more to do with freeing up cap space and getting the bad end more physical...Hence enter Brown and exit McCarthy. I just love the Carney and Nonoren trades cause we didn't give up much, but got quality in return.

Btw, I disagree with you Monkey on the Avs move. That was one dumbass move IMO. Theodore has been stunking it up big time this season and has been getting worse the last few seasons. The only reason PL picked him up is cause he's French Canadian. The Habs just robbed the Avs big time. Now the Avs are stuck with one really bad contract they can't get out of. I'm sure glad the Nucks didn't get Theo when he was being offered to them (probably for a bag of pucks). Gainey looks like a genious in this trade.

Btw, the Oilers deals looks great for them. They got Roloson and Samsonov! The Oilers and the Nucks looks to be 2 stronger teams now while the Flames remain the same and the Avs get weaker trading away their no. 1 goalie for an injure one (he would suck even more if he wasn't injured). It looks like the Wild are giving up on their season, otherwise, no way would they trade one of their goalies to Edmonton (a team that's directly ahead of them in the standings).

As for other teams... looks like the Devils are just unloading d-men and that the Leafs don't want to do anything.

[Bai Qi44]

Wholly crap!!! Eric Weinrich now!!! We got him. Wow, now does our d look good or what??? I don't get the Sean Brown move though. We really don't need him unless one of our top 3 d-men is out of the season +playoffs.

Imagine our D-men once Jovo, Ohlund, and Salo comes back.

Ohlund-Salo
Allen-Jovo
Carney-Weinrich



Brown (I think Bieska is better).
Jovo would be great if he uses his brain more.

Add
Auld - Nonoren!!!
Damn what to do with Cloutier now...

One thing I don't get... how do we have the cap space? Since we didn't unload any big contracts, how can we afford all these guys. Wow, the Nucks are so busy today. One of the other busy teams were the Oilers.

edit - oops, I forgot Baumer! Baumer's been too good this year to be sat out. He should be our 7th d-man and Crow can play all 7 in games.

[superkaratemonkey]

-i think the nucks have cap room cuz of all the injuries. throughout the season, we have cloutier, cooke, jovo, salo out for an extended period of time, therefore we have some money to spend.
-i doubt all our Dmen will be healthy at the same time. jovo is still a few wks away, and salo is even more seriously hurt. it looks good on paper, but u know there'll always be injuries. also, as much as i like the carney/weinrich moves, we have to wait and see if they are as good w/ the nucks as ppl expect. carney was awesome playing as the top Dman in anahiem, how would he do playing #4 w/ the nucks?
-brown provides toughness, hopefully dat'll mean we've seen the last of brookbank. dear god that guy is worst then useless, hes dumb as well. his stupid penalty cost us the lead against nashville. i almost wanna reach through the tv and choke him!
-i still think Avs got a good deal for theodeur. how often can u acquire a hart trophy winner for aeibeisher? i love abby and all, but as an Avs fan i love this trade. im not comparing jose to roy, but i think theo can turn it around and 5 yrs later ppl will be wondering y montreal gave up a top goalie for abby.
-i think oilers did well, but im not sold on roloson so i dont think they'll go too far. flames is still the team to beat in the west imo, but stars will be a tough second. even w/ the nucks depth on D now, i dont like our chances going in the PO, simply becuz our top players arent playing like it. bert MUST turn it around if we have any chances at all, but im not holdin my breath. its so sad really, to know we r so close, and finally our GM is doing something to help the team, just to see bertuzzi messes everything up.

[Bai Qi44]

The Flames are the not the team to beat... They are the hardest working team with very little offensive talent. If you want to beat them, you have to outwork them.

I don't know what you're talking about with Theodore. Just cause he won the hart in the past doesn't mean he won't suck the rest of his career. Playing goalie is the most mentally challenging position in hockey. Many goalies have broken down and never recovered and I don't think Theo is any exception. If his contract wasn't so high, then he might be worth the risk, but his contract is and PL got fleeced big time. Jim Carrey, Felix Potvin, Tommy Salo, etc... the list goes on for good goalies who never recovered.

[superkaratemonkey]

The Flames are the not the team to beat... They are the hardest working team with very little offensive talent. If you want to beat them, you have to outwork them.

I don't know what you're talking about with Theodore. Just cause he won the hart in the past doesn't mean he won't suck the rest of his career. Playing goalie is the most mentally challenging position in hockey. Many goalies have broken down and never recovered and I don't think Theo is any exception. If his contract wasn't so high, then he might be worth the risk, but his contract is and PL got fleeced big time. Jim Carrey, Felix Potvin, Tommy Salo, etc... the list goes on for good goalies who never recovered.

dats wat ppl said last yr about the flames, and look wat happened! its easy to sit here and say "we have to out work them", but as evident from last playoff, its not so easy when u have to do it. and w/ kipper rested and healthy, they dont really need to score too many goals to win.

the goalies u mentioned, none of them won a hart trophy, and IMO none of them are as talented as theo. im not sayin dat he'll turn it around 4sure, but its a risk worth taking. i mean, its not like he won the hart and vezina trophy dat long ago, its only been 3 yrs (2 seasons). and even tho there are goalies dat had a bad season and never recovered, there are also goalies dat turn it around and play great after (roy, belfore, vernon, etc)

[Bai Qi44]

dats wat ppl said last yr about the flames, and look wat happened! its easy to sit here and say "we have to out work them", but as evident from last playoff, its not so easy when u have to do it. and w/ kipper rested and healthy, they dont really need to score too many goals to win.

the goalies u mentioned, none of them won a hart trophy, and IMO none of them are as talented as theo. im not sayin dat he'll turn it around 4sure, but its a risk worth taking. i mean, its not like he won the hart and vezina trophy dat long ago, its only been 3 yrs (2 seasons). and even tho there are goalies dat had a bad season and never recovered, there are also goalies dat turn it around and play great after (roy, belfore, vernon, etc)

Well, I know the Flames are going to be hard to beat for any team. The thing is... you just have to solve the problem. Obviously, most teams who are going to play against them in the playoffs have to outwork them or else the Flames won't get beat. Last time when they beat us, it was only by 1 goal and we didn't have Bert (can't believe I'm saying this) then and Clouts was hurt. The Nucks can beat them if only they had heart and a work ethic. Not trading Bertuzzi this season is going to hurt us cause he's a cancer. He's dragging everyone down. When McCarthy left, he mentioned that the dynamics in the Nucks dressing room were bad. He didn't want to stay (even though his play was improving greatly). I think a lot of this has to do with Bertuzzi.

Just cause you won a hart doesn't mean you're going to ever reach that status or close to it again. You, like Gretzky and company, are judging players base on past performances and not present ones. The hart is not that much more valuable than the Veizna for a goalie. With Roy, Belfour, Vernon, they've always had good years. Even in their bad years, they weren't that bad, it was mainly the teams in front of them. In Theo's bad years, he's gone from bad to horrible. What makes you think he can just all of a sudden turn it around? Btw, he does play for a good team in front of him. The Habs, as a team, aren't that bad. If his contract wasn't so huge, then taking a risk on him won't matter. I can bet you that 90% plus of the GMs in the NHL would rather take Cloutier and his contract than Theo and his. I can't believe PL was so stupid in taking on Theo. I'll eat my words if Theo ever turns it around in Colorado, but I think it'll most likely be you eating your words. Btw Monkey, you don't seem to be a good judge of goalies (remember what u said about Auld?)

PS: We are slowly playing ourselves out of a playoff spot. Stupid first line and their lack of scoring. Our defense and goaltending looks good, but our offense went south. If we don't make the playoffs or if we do and lose in the 1st round, I can guarantee you Bert won't be around next season.

[almo89]

The Canucks are dangerously at the edge of missing the playoffs if they keep losing like this. Way too many dumb penalties tonight. Seemed like only the Sedins and Carter are chipping in. What's what Crawford's decision to start the Big Line on the PP at the beginning of the 3rd period? I thought that's what killed them tonight.

[Bai Qi44]

Ahhh.... I've had enough of this. Our guys are playing like crap. That's it. It's time for my prediction to tun their twist of fate. I'll take my 8-2-0-1 record and predict a desperate Nucks win tonight. 3-2 for Nucks.

Nazzy with 1, Daniel gets one and Weinrich scores his 1st as a Nuck.
Karyia and Sullivan 1 each.

Norenen has an amazing game.

[superkaratemonkey]

Well, I know the Flames are going to be hard to beat for any team. The thing is... you just have to solve the problem. Obviously, most teams who are going to play against them in the playoffs have to outwork them or else the Flames won't get beat. Last time when they beat us, it was only by 1 goal and we didn't have Bert (can't believe I'm saying this) then and Clouts was hurt. The Nucks can beat them if only they had heart and a work ethic. Not trading Bertuzzi this season is going to hurt us cause he's a cancer. He's dragging everyone down. When McCarthy left, he mentioned that the dynamics in the Nucks dressing room were bad. He didn't want to stay (even though his play was improving greatly). I think a lot of this has to do with Bertuzzi.

Just cause you won a hart doesn't mean you're going to ever reach that status or close to it again. You, like Gretzky and company, are judging players base on past performances and not present ones. The hart is not that much more valuable than the Veizna for a goalie. With Roy, Belfour, Vernon, they've always had good years. Even in their bad years, they weren't that bad, it was mainly the teams in front of them. In Theo's bad years, he's gone from bad to horrible. What makes you think he can just all of a sudden turn it around? Btw, he does play for a good team in front of him. The Habs, as a team, aren't that bad. If his contract wasn't so huge, then taking a risk on him won't matter. I can bet you that 90% plus of the GMs in the NHL would rather take Cloutier and his contract than Theo and his. I can't believe PL was so stupid in taking on Theo. I'll eat my words if Theo ever turns it around in Colorado, but I think it'll most likely be you eating your words. Btw Monkey, you don't seem to be a good judge of goalies (remember what u said about Auld?)

PS: We are slowly playing ourselves out of a playoff spot. Stupid first line and their lack of scoring. Our defense and goaltending looks good, but our offense went south. If we don't make the playoffs or if we do and lose in the 1st round, I can guarantee you Bert won't be around next season.

haha yea i gotta admit dat auld surprised me by his play this yr. hes improve so much, his rebound control, positioning, lateral movement, and recovery has be awesome.
but back to theo, IMO u dont just lose your skill at the age of 28 (i think dats how old he is). hes still in his prime, and while he was bad this yr, theres ALOT of distraction for him (his family being investigate, his drug problem, injuries). hopefully a fresh start will help him regain his form. if u believe his MVP season was a fluke, then this trade seems dumb. but i dont think it is. also, $5M is alot of money, but look at khabibulin, hes getting $6M. brodeur took below market value and still got $5M+. luongo wont be far behind. kipper signed cheap, but giguere is getting over $4M. elite goaltenders are costing $4M+, i still think jose can be an elite goalie.
btw, the salary cap looks like it'll be going up, so $5M wont be as much (percentage-wise) as this yr. and look at all the skaters getting over that amount, u cant tell me dat an elite goalie isnt worth as much as an elite skater.
oh man, the nucks cant seem to win no matter they play well or not. they were awesome against nashville last wk and lost, pretty good yesterday against dallas and lost. sucked against st louis and lost. hockey god is angry w/ us for some reason

[Bai Qi44]

Enough with Theo. Goalies are totally different from any other position in hockey. It is mentally the most challenging position. A guy like Jim Carrey who won back to back Vezinas ended up playing his life out of hockey cause he became so crappy. Corey Hirsch looked damn good his rookie year, but ended up in Europe only after a few seasons. There are very few goalies who can truly be great and stay that way for the rest of their career (Roy, Dryden, and Hall to name a few).

As for our crappy Canucks. I seriously think Bertuzzi's a cancer. He's dragging the rest of the team down. Nonis not getting rid of him when he had the chance might come back to bite him. Anyway, I think I should start predicting the Nucks to lose to jinx myself.

[almo89]

Enough with Theo. Goalies are totally different from any other position in hockey. It is mentally the most challenging position. A guy like Jim Carrey who won back to back Vezinas ended up playing his life out of hockey cause he became so crappy. Corey Hirsch looked damn good his rookie year, but ended up in Europe only after a few seasons. There are very few goalies who can truly be great and stay that way for the rest of their career (Roy, Dryden, and Hall to name a few).

As for our crappy Canucks. I seriously think Bertuzzi's a cancer. He's dragging the rest of the team down. Nonis not getting rid of him when he had the chance might come back to bite him. Anyway, I think I should start predicting the Nucks to lose to jinx myself.

I thought it was a good thing Nonis didn't deal Bertuzzi because he wouldn't have gotten much back. If he waits till off season then he'll most likely get some better deals. So right now even if the Canucks make the playoffs and Bert comes out flying leads us to a Stanley Cup team we still have to deal him in the off season. It's time to bring in some new blood.

[Bai Qi44]

Not dealing Bertuzzi might not be a good thing. I don't care if we got nothing back. The point is to get rid of him and improve our team's chemistry that way. He's a distraction on and off the ice. Fans boo him everywhere and the media follows him around. That by itself might even be a distraction to the rest of the team. Anyway, it's a moot point now.

All we can do is pray to the hockey gods and hope they'll be leinent on the Nucks.

[Bai Qi44]

Ok, predicting a victory doesn't seem to be working lately so I'l try and jinx myself by predicting the Nucks to lose to the Straight Jackets tonight.

4-0 for the Bluejackets.

Auld gets chased and both Nash and Zhredev score 2 each.
Bertuzzi surprises everyone by having one of his best games of the season. He gets one shot on goal and only takes one dumb penalty. That's a huge plus for the Nucks for Bert only causes the Nucks one goal against.

[superkaratemonkey]

Not dealing Bertuzzi might not be a good thing. I don't care if we got nothing back. The point is to get rid of him and improve our team's chemistry that way. He's a distraction on and off the ice. Fans boo him everywhere and the media follows him around. That by itself might even be a distraction to the rest of the team. Anyway, it's a moot point now.

All we can do is pray to the hockey gods and hope they'll be leinent on the Nucks.

the whole point of keeping bert is to give his core group 1 last shot at the cup. dats the reason we put up w/ all these crap for the yr. we mite not be having a great season by any mean, but neither were the 82 and 94 canucks. as long as u get in, w/ the talent we got, we can do some damage. if it doesnt work, we'll rebuild/retool in the summer. but we stick w/ what we got for now and see wat happen in the PO.
also, if we trade away bert, wat would happen to nazzy? its no secret they r best friend. and nazzy pretty much alienated the rest of the team by sticking w/ bert and ignoring everybody else (assuming all those rumors about the canucks locker room problem is true). if bert is gone would nazzy wanna be back? u can only get picks/prospect for those guys IMO, so do u rebuild after dat? can u unload morrison and cloutier if u rebuild? do u trade ohlund and salo too? so many questions, all becuz of getting rid of bert. i wont be surprise if nonis takes the easy way out and just keep bert till hes a FA.

[Bai Qi44]

Unless Bert wins the Conn Smythe this year (yeah right!), he's going to be traded. If Nonis doesn't do it, then he would be an idiot. Mo needs to go too. His fat contract and dreadful play can not co-exist in a cap world. I doubt there would be any takers though. Clouts can go too if teams are willing to get him. We can get players via the free agent route so we don't have to build from scratch...depending on how much salary we can dump of course. As for Naslund... well, the choice is up to him. He can stay if we traded Bert and Mo away or he can waive his no trade clause and be shipped somewhere else.

Anyway, since I was good at jinxing myself, I'll do it again. Tonight's game against the Detroit Dead Things (This team would be so good to face in the playoffs for any team cause of their bloated record and lack of toughness).

4-2 Dead Things over the Nucks!

Shanny with 1, Datsyuk with 1, Lidstrom with 1, and Zetterberg with 1.

Hendrik with 1 and Carney with 1 (hehe).

[Bai Qi44]

.we mite not be having a great season by any mean, but neither were the 82 and 94 canucks. as long as u get in, w/ the talent we got, we can do some damage.

This comment really bothers me. The 82 Nucks actually got hot just before they got to the playoffs. The 94 Nucks, although a hugely dissappointing regular season team, did managed to at least played 500 hockey heading into the playoffs to just sneak in.

This season's version of the Nucks has disaster written all over it. Even back as far back as October when we were actually winning, everyone could tell that something was wrong with the team.

I can't remember any Canucks playoff team losing 6 out of 7 in their final 20 games. That 12 year cycle is a nice fantasy and all, but the lack of desperation and heart that this season's version of the Nucks are showing will say we won't make the playoffs. Losing even one of the 3 games against Edmonton pretty much means we're done.

[superkaratemonkey]

This comment really bothers me. The 82 Nucks actually got hot just before they got to the playoffs. The 94 Nucks, although a hugely dissappointing regular season team, did managed to at least played 500 hockey heading into the playoffs to just sneak in.

This season's version of the Nucks has disaster written all over it. Even back as far back as October when we were actually winning, everyone could tell that something was wrong with the team.

I can't remember any Canucks playoff team losing 6 out of 7 in their final 20 games. That 12 year cycle is a nice fantasy and all, but the lack of desperation and heart that this season's version of the Nucks are showing will say we won't make the playoffs. Losing even one of the 3 games against Edmonton pretty much means we're done.

if we do make the playoff we'll have to get hot for the last 12 games, so we will be headin into the playoff on a good streak. and w/ 2 wins already against the oilers, things are looking alot better then a wk ago. if we can sweep edmonton, we'd be in good shape. i think LA is done, and SJ will make it IMO, so one of van/edm/col will have to miss the PO. if van win all 3 against edm, the oilers mite not make it.

[Bai Qi44]

Well, we didn't do well tonight. All the teams we needed to lose for tonight, won. To boot, we lost to a team we're battling a playoff spot with.

this playoff race is completely jammed. We can either have all 4 NW teams making the playoffs or 3 of them falling out of it. Although Anaheim's schedule is pretty tough, they are playing red hot right now. The Sharks have the easiest schedule and they're also hot. LA is hurt big time, but they won tonight. The Avs are in the same boat, but they just keep winning. The Flames already clinched a playoff spot (damn!!!). The Oil looks kind of bad with Rolie the Goalie in net, but he did get them the victory last night. Finally, the Nucks... Well, I said we needed to sweep all 3 games against Edmonton and we didn't. Winning 2 out of 3 isn't bad, but very dangerous in a playoff race not to win all 3 against a team you're battling a spot with. Giving the Oilers 3 points in the mini-series hurts cause we only gain 1 point on them and they still have a game in hand. It's looking more and more gloomy.

[James Ko]

Go Might Ducks

I don't think all the Canadian team will make it this year. Leafs aren't hungry enough to make it and they are probably the only Canadian team that wouldn't make it with the exception of Habs if somehow Thrasher pulls a sneaky one pass them.


I am glad the west side, Oilers, Flames, Nuks are in good position to make it.

[Bai Qi44]

Ah James... Did you check out the standings? The Nucks and Oilers are not in good position to make the playoffs. Although they still have a shot at the division, they can both still miss the playoffs if Anaheim, LA, Avs, and Sharks make it. I said the Flames already clinched the playoffs and that's according to a Calgary paper I read. It's probably because the other teams are going to compete against each other so no matter what Calgary does, they're already in.