The Definitive NHL 2012-2013 Season Thread

[Sohel]

Lost 0-6 season opener to the Blues who outclassed us by a mile! THE worst opening game for us in decades. It was the first time we were shutout on opening night since the 1958-59 season when we lost 0-2 to the Habs.

Personally, I haven't seen us look like a perpetually mediocre team (like Toronto) since the late 80s!

We were off. Our timing overall was way off. Our trademark tape to tape, one touch passes were pretty much non-existent as were quality one-timers. We we were a step behind not only defensively, but also on the forecheck and the backcheck. This is the season for everyone to step up and be better, starting with Hank and the Mule to the fringe players doing well with the Griffins. Not only did they fail to show an early glimpse of that, but actually underperformed and really stunk it up out there. Not worthy of being called the Red Wings with this kind of pitiful hockey

[Sohel]

BTW, VERY impressed by Vladimir Tarasenko. This guy has what it takes to become a superstar in the league. Wish we had him instead of the Mule, a grossly overpaid underachiever yet to have that much anticipated "breakout season". In his 30s now, he never will. He is the Mohammad Ashraful of NHL in some ways.

[Leafs PWN]

The goaltending in this division is ridiculous for everyone except the Leafs.

Rask, Price, Miller, Anderson............Reimer/Scrivens

It sucks having to play these 4 so many times a year. Ryan Miller completely stole the game tonight. We had a million shots, and he completely stood on his head. The 2 posts didn't help either.

JVR has looked pretty bad so far. Invisible out there right now, and can't finish much of what Kadri is producting. Kadri has been awesome - great vision, good hustle, good physical play, and adequate on the defensive end. 2 goals in 2 games for him. Should have had a couple assists if Miller wasn't being a wall.

Only a matter time till we try him between Kessel and Lupul.

[Beamer]

Originally Posted by Sohel
BTW, VERY impressed by Vladimir Tarasenko. This guy has what it takes to become a superstar in the league. Wish we had him instead of the Mule, a grossly overpaid underachiever yet to have that much anticipated "breakout season". In his 30s now, he never will. He is the Mohammad Ashraful of NHL in some ways.

Yes, he is very impressive. Saw the highlights of his goal the other night. Pens tried to move up and get him, but no luck. St. Louis is a great young team. People need to watch out. I remember us playing them last year in a game and they made life miserable for us. They are a hard team. Very physical. They come after you. Backes is not nice to play against. Great goaltending they have and play air tight defense. Def a team on rise and I think they will go a long way for years to come.

Leafs PWN - I don't know why but I have never been impressed with Ryan Miller. Great numbers every year. Maybe its because every time we play Buffalo he gets pulled ! Lol...not every time, but I have seen it many times. Its one of those things. We have his number and he never plays well against us. Guy who we can not beat is Carey Price. He has our number and I think the world of him.

Pens have done well in first two games. Tough way to start the season. Back to back games in Philly and NYR. Both Wins. Our team speed looks excellent. It all comes down to Fleury and Defense that imploded last year. Goal scoring is never the problem. Keep them out is. Lets see. Home opener tomorrow vs Leafs. Bank on Kessel scoring. He always scores against us.

[Sohel]

We did a little better in our second game and the first two periods of the third during the home opener, but none of it has been vintage Red Wings hockey. Blowing a 2-0 lead to the BJs before they blew their 3-2 third period lead and then losing in the shoot-out isn't anything to be proud of. Watching our mediocre play on the ice tells you why. The BJs are without Nash FGS!!! Then losing the home opener to Dallas

Both Kenny and Bruce are under a great deal of pressure as they should be. They've always looked great because prospects had ample time to develop in the Griffins before seeing sustained NHL action. Veteran stars and timely acquisitions did the trick. Not this year. This year they have to motivate everyone to step from underperforming veterans to newbies to step up and prove their management creds under more adverse circumstances. We've resorted to playing crappy players like Cory Emmerton on a regular basis FGS. True we're dealing with injuries, adding to Kenny's offseason failures and vets retiring, but WTF???

[Leafs PWN]

Probably gonna be a goalfest in the Pens-Leafs game like most cases. Randy installed a good defensive system that seems to work so far, but I'm not too confident about its effectiveness against the Pens. Doubt any system is good enough for Crosby/Malkin unless you have Chara, Weber, and Suter on your team. We're probably gonna have to score 4 to win this one.

Question for Beamer bhai - who do you think is better, Malkin or Crosby? From a pure talent point of view, I think Malkin is the better one. When he's on he makes NHLers look like beer leaguers. Crosby does that too, but not at the same extent as Malkin.

[Beamer]

Originally Posted by Leafs PWN
Probably gonna be a goalfest in the Pens-Leafs game like most cases. Randy installed a good defensive system that seems to work so far, but I'm not too confident about its effectiveness against the Pens. Doubt any system is good enough for Crosby/Malkin unless you have Chara, Weber, and Suter on your team. We're probably gonna have to score 4 to win this one.

Question for Beamer bhai - who do you think is better, Malkin or Crosby? From a pure talent point of view, I think Malkin is the better one. When he's on he makes NHLers look like beer leaguers. Crosby does that too, but not at the same extent as Malkin.

If you asked me that two years ago, I would say, Crosby - hands down. Right now, its not even close. Malkin is the man. Sid is off his game. Two years of absence will do it. His timing is off. His mind is there, but hands not quite there. Hopefully its sooner than later. I am not sure he will ever get his goal scoring touch back, but I will not bet against that guy. Right now, he is back checking like a demon, and for the first time he has asked to be on the PK unit. He is winning draws, and the sight of him on PK is scaring people, though he hasn't done much to scare them off !

Goalfest it is tonight ! I told you Leafs ( Kessel in particular ) always give us trouble. I won't be surprised one bit if they spoil our home opener.

What Malkin has done to James Neal is pure legendary. I swear the way he is setting him up is almost Mario esque..

[Beamer]

Originally Posted by Sohel
We did a little better in our second game and the first two periods of the third during the home opener, but none of it has been vintage Red Wings hockey. Blowing a 2-0 lead to the BJs before they blew their 3-2 third period lead and then losing in the shoot-out isn't anything to be proud of. Watching our mediocre play on the ice tells you why. The BJs are without Nash FGS!!! Then losing the home opener to Dallas

Both Kenny and Bruce are under a great deal of pressure as they should be. They've always looked great because prospects had ample time to develop in the Griffins before seeing sustained NHL action. Veteran stars and timely acquisitions did the trick. Not this year. This year they have to motivate everyone to step from underperforming veterans to newbies to step up and prove their management creds under more adverse circumstances. We've resorted to playing crappy players like Cory Emmerton on a regular basis FGS. True we're dealing with injuries, adding to Kenny's offseason failures and vets retiring, but WTF???

Saw a lot Dalllas-Detroit last night. Good thing about lockout? You are getting a lot of free games on TV. They want to make it up to their fans. Whitney and Jagr, two forty somethings were making magic all night long with tic tac passing. Also, from what I saw, it looked like Datsyuk had a very very off night. Very unlike him. That Swiss kid got some game though ( Brunner ? ). I know Pens were talking to his agent last summer. He chose Detroit. You guys looked slow on D bro..

Anyone see what Chicago is doing? On fire. They are such a talented team.

[Leafs PWN]

Well that was fun to watch Kulemin had his best game in 2 years tonight. Looked like his 30 goal self again. JVR used his opportunities well, and Kesseled that one bad turnover. Overall, the Leafs did a good job of limiting the scoring chances, and Reimer made some good saves. Although that first goal was inexcusable.

Pittsburgh looked sluggish aside from a couple bursts of pressure. Gino especially looked bad with multiple turnovers.

Hope this is a sign of things to come for my Leafs. Just some hope and nothing more

[Beamer]

Originally Posted by Leafs PWN
Well that was fun to watch Kulemin had his best game in 2 years tonight. Looked like his 30 goal self again. JVR used his opportunities well, and Kesseled that one bad turnover. Overall, the Leafs did a good job of limiting the scoring chances, and Reimer made some good saves. Although that first goal was inexcusable.

Pittsburgh looked sluggish aside from a couple bursts of pressure. Gino especially looked bad with multiple turnovers.

Hope this is a sign of things to come for my Leafs. Just some hope and nothing more

You should be very optimistic. I said about Leafs last year that they have great speed and good young wingers. It was evident again last night. I was not surprised because Leafs always play us well here. Defense looked good and Randy C knows about defense, being a former Norris winner himself ( ding ding? what team ?? ha ha ) .

Crappy play from Pens. Too much east west stuff. Got picked up and boom the other way. Second line was bad. Geno, Neal and Mr. clueless Tangradi were repeat offenders. The one goal lead in first was against the run of play and eight mins of penalty ( 5 on 3 included ) in a row in second crushed every thing. Geno sat on bench cold in that span, and came off the bench and turned it over right away. Some of the boarding calls were really confusing, but no way that was the reason we lost. We never got up for the game, as often is the case vs Leafs and Isles. Hopefully, this was just one bad game.

Only positive was Crosby looking a bit better than the previous two games. On to 'Peg on Friday night..

[Sohel]

Chicago's on a hot streak and we did reasonably well against them after a dismal first period. Bounced back and competed but didn't take quality shots at Crawford. Not enough to beat him anyway. Better play the way we did from the second period and practice taking more quality shots on goal. Not at the body, but at the top corners. Gotta roof it guys.

[Leafs PWN]

Chicago and San Jose are both on fire right now. It's kind of funny that neither of them have that great of a goalie.

Both offenses are firing in all cylinders right. Marleau has 2 goals in every single game except one.

[Beamer]

Originally Posted by Leafs PWN
Chicago and San Jose are both on fire right now. It's kind of funny that neither of them have that great of a goalie.

Both offenses are firing in all cylinders right. Marleau has 2 goals in every single game except one.

They are indeed playing well. Throw in Tampa and Boston in East too. However, its too early in season. All teams will go through mini slumps or major hot streaks at some point. I would rather go in playing hot towards the end before playoffs.

[Leafs PWN]

Originally Posted by Beamer
They are indeed playing well. Throw in Tampa and Boston in East too. However, its too early in season. All teams will go through mini slumps or major hot streaks at some point. I would rather go in playing hot towards the end before playoffs.

Yep, that would be the best time to get hot. I remeber Leafs teams with Sundin used to get hot at the end, and win some ridiculous amount of games in the last 25 to only miss the playoffs by a 1 or 2 points

That one year (05?) where the Devils won in shootout in the last game to kick the Leafs out of the 8th will be etched in my memory forver. Worst feeling ever

Montreal has been the most surprising to me. They played like utter crap agaisnt us, and then go on to a 3-0 record. You can tell how much difference a healthy Markov makes to that team. Having a top three like Markov/Subban/Gorges with Price in net pretty awesome. If Galchenyuk can keep producing, they might not do so bad this year.

A question for Sohel bhai - do you see Nyquist outproducing Franzen in the next 2-3 years? I was wondering whether to do a deal for Franzen around Nyquist in one of my keeper leagues.

Also, if you guys are up for it, maybe we can do an ESPN fantasy league for BC hockey enthusiasts. Something like 8 F - 4D - 2G shouldn't take too long to draft.

[AsifTheManRahman]

Your fantasy league will probably have only 4-5 players, lol.

[Sohel]

@LP: Franzen has been a bitter disappointment for us. We expected him to evolve into a 40-50 goal scorer at some point but thanks to his laziness, that never happened. Everybody in Detroit wants him traded. Sadly, he's likely to get another chance with us this season because of our weakened state. Nyquist is skilled and works harder but is still a couple of years away from the second line under normal circumstances. But our current situation is anything but normal and so he has the opportunity to step up. Damien Brunner is likely to adjust to the league and become a major contributor offensively faster than Gus.

Anyway, finally a decent outing against Dallas. Our top guys did well as did Ericsson. Ericsson looks like a different player since returning from injury.

[Leafs PWN]

Originally Posted by AsifTheManRahman
Your fantasy league will probably have only 4-5 players, lol.

I'm gonna guess less than that. Probably 3.

Originally Posted by Sohel
@LP: Franzen has been a bitter disappointment for us. We expected him to evolve into a 40-50 goal scorer at some point but thanks to his laziness, that never happened. Everybody in Detroit wants him traded. Sadly, he's likely to get another chance with us this season because of our weakened state. Nyquist is skilled and works harder but is still a couple of years away from the second line under normal circumstances. But our current situation is anything but normal and so he has the opportunity to step up. Damien Brunner is likely to adjust to the league and become a major contributor offensively faster than Gus.

Anyway, finally a decent outing against Dallas. Our top guys did well as did Ericsson. Ericsson looks like a different player since returning from injury.

Thanks

Crazy finish to Leafs/Sabres game, with Frattin scoring winner with 1.5 s left in overtime . Great goal that one.



Frattin along with Kadri continue to impress. Kadri now 3G, 3A in 6 games. Frattin now 3G, 2A in 3 games. While Kessel is a glorious 0 G, 3A in 6 games.

[Sohel]

Chicago's streak ends as Sharp finds the pipe in the shootout. Minny plays a lot like Boston defensively sans the imposing presence and skills of Chara. They clog up their zone with relentless man-to-man marking forcing the opposition to initiate attack from the point. Once that happens, they collapse back into a more traditional accordion defense with one guy ready for the outlet pass. These types of teams are tough to score on.

[Leafs PWN]

Frattin and Kadri combined for this beauty game winner tonight. Even if we accomplish nothing else this season, the emergence of these two will be enough to make Leaf fans happy.

On to Boston on Saturday. They have been our toughest opponent the past couple years. Hope we can keep it close if nothing else!

[Sohel]

Not a bad offensive display against the Blues but defensive mediocrity in front of Howard remains a concern. Blowing a once insurmountable 2-0 lead to trail 2-3 proves the point. Hank has been stepping up and seems to be getting his pre-2009 groove back. Very happy about Hustlin' Hank's hattrick. Even the grossly overpaid, compulsive underachiever Fanzen worked harder than usual during most of his shifts, especially in front of the net. The PP's beginning to look good also but our PK definitely needs to get better. Important 5-3 win for us in the end. Moving into 7th place and with a game in hand, in position to move into 3rd in the West. Gotta stay ahead of the mad scramble amongst Minny, LA, Nashville and Dallas towards the end without peaking too soon.

Sharks are for real this year. BJT has always been a great reader of the game and goal-maker (not goal-scorer, mind you) as exemplified by his prolific primary assist-scoring, but this year he seems to have more time on the puck, and is making tough passes look easy with better use of the ice around him. His subtle adjustments while he holds the puck is creating great angles and passing lanes to feed those passes through. Proud of my Northern California Bay Area hommies.

[Ajfar]

What's the most easiest pick of the day guys? I no nothing abut hockey, I randomly picked the Ducks to win yesterday and they did.

Bruis @ Leafs?
Hurricanes @ Flyers?
Rangers @ Lighting?
Red Wings @ Blue Jackets?
Stars @ Coyotes?
Blackhawks @ Flames?
Kings @ Ducks?
Predators @ Sharks?

[Sohel]

What a pitiful loss to the BJs! We started well enough and Franzen put us ahead 1-0. Then he decided to disappear alongside Hank and it was all BJs from that point on. Anisimov is a fine young player. Very skilled and not at all lacking when it comes to getting the forecheck going.

Horrible lapses from our mediocre defense, only Kronwall and Ericsson seem to know how to play defense throughout their shifts, gave the game away at 2-4. As simple as that. Time to get some solid D-Men Kenny!

The Pens, by contrast had a great game on both sides of the ice. Jersey was simply waiting for a team with superior speed to come at them and paid even after the SHG gave them a chance to change this suicidal strategy against bona-fide point machines like Crosby and company. Crosby seems to be getting his groove back and if he manages to stay healthy, he'll definitely contend for the Art Ross and possibly more. Give him space and he'll make you pay. They were excellent defensively also.

[Sohel]

Even a gallant PK effort in OT couldn't save the Sharks from the SO loss, their first of the season. LOL at how BJT doesn't shoot even during shootouts.

[Nocturnal]

	Eastern	DIV	GP	W	L	OT	P	ROW	GF	GA	Diff	Home	Away	S/O	L10	Streak
1	* - Boston	NE	8	6	1	1	13	4	24	19	+5	4-1-0	2-0-1	2-0	6-1-1	Won 1
2	* - Tampa Bay	SE	8	6	2	0	12	6	39	21	+18	5-1-0	1-1-0	-	6-2-0	Lost 1
3	* - Pittsburgh	ATL	8	5	3	0	10	4	24	19	+5	1-2-0	4-1-0	1-0	5-3-0	Won 2
4	Ottawa	NE	8	5	2	1	11	5	24	14	+10	3-0-1	2-2-0	0-1	5-2-1	Lost 1
5	Montréal	NE	7	5	2	0	10	5	24	16	+8	4-1-0	1-1-0	-	5-2-0	Won 1
6	NY Islanders	ATL	7	4	2	1	9	4	27	23	+4	1-1-0	3-1-1	-	4-2-1	Won 2
7	New Jersey	ATL	7	3	1	3	9	3	17	19	-2	2-0-1	1-1-2	0-1	3-1-3	Lost 1
8	Toronto	NE	8	4	4	0	8	4	21	23	-2	1-3-0	3-1-0	-	4-4-0	Lost 1
9	NY Rangers	ATL	8	4	4	0	8	4	19	22	-3	3-2-0	1-2-0	-	4-4-0	Won 1
10	Buffalo	NE	8	3	4	1	7	3	24	29	-5	1-1-1	2-3-0	-	3-4-1	Lost 1
11	Winnipeg	SE	8	3	4	1	7	3	24	32	-8	2-1-0	1-3-1	0-1	3-4-1	Lost 3
12	Carolina	SE	7	3	4	0	6	3	18	23	-5	2-2-0	1-2-0	-	3-4-0	Lost 1
13	Philadelphia	ATL	9	3	6	0	6	3	21	26	-5	2-1-0	1-5-0	-	3-6-0	Won 1
14	Washington	SE	8	2	5	1	5	2	18	27	-9	2-2-0	0-3-1	-	2-5-1	Won 1
15	Florida	SE	7	2	5	0	4	2	16	27	-11	2-2-0	0-3-0	-	2-5-0	Won 1

	Western	DIV	GP	W	L	OT	P	ROW	GF	GA	Diff	Home	Away	S/O	L10	Streak
1	* - Chicago	CEN	9	7	0	2	16	6	28	20	+8	2-0-0	5-0-2	1-2	7-0-2	Won 1
2	* - San Jose	PAC	8	7	0	1	15	5	30	14	+16	5-0-1	2-0-0	2-1	7-0-1	OT 1
3	* - Vancouver	NW	8	4	2	2	10	2	21	20	+1	3-1-1	1-1-1	2-2	4-2-2	Won 2
4	St. Louis	CEN	8	6	2	0	12	5	31	19	+12	3-0-0	3-2-0	1-0	6-2-0	Lost 1
5	Anaheim	PAC	7	5	1	1	11	4	27	22	+5	3-1-0	2-0-1	1-1	5-1-1	Won 2
6	Detroit	CEN	8	4	3	1	9	3	22	24	-2	3-1-0	1-2-1	1-0	4-3-1	Lost 1
7	Edmonton	NW	8	4	3	1	9	3	20	21	-1	2-1-0	2-2-1	1-1	4-3-1	Lost 1
8	Minnesota	NW	8	4	3	1	9	3	20	22	-2	4-1-0	0-2-1	1-0	4-3-1	Lost 1
9	Nashville	CEN	8	3	2	3	9	1	14	20	-6	0-0-2	3-2-1	2-3	3-2-3	Won 2
10	Colorado	NW	8	4	4	0	8	4	19	20	-1	3-0-0	1-4-0	-	4-4-0	Won 2
11	Phoenix	PAC	9	3	4	2	8	3	27	26	+1	3-2-1	0-2-1	0-1	3-4-2	Won 1
12	Dallas	PAC	9	3	5	1	7	2	17	23	-6	2-1-1	1-4-0	1-0	3-5-1	Lost 1
13	Columbus	CEN	9	3	5	1	7	2	18	28	-10	2-2-1	1-3-0	1-1	3-5-1	Won 1
14	Los Angeles	PAC	7	2	3	2	6	1	16	23	-7	1-1-1	1-2-1	1-1	2-3-2	Lost 1
15	Calgary	NW	6	1	3	2	4	1	16	24	-8	1-3-1	0-0-1	0-2	1-3-2	OT 1

[Nocturnal]

^^ current standings.
and yes, Calgary Flames decided to lose all of their games (except against edmonton oilers) in this season!