NHL 2013-2014 Season - Page 6

Beamer · #**126** November 22, 2013, 10:36 AM

Not bad ! Two goals on two shots. Nyquist is highly rated among hockey circles, and he delivered.

Leafs PWN · #**127** November 26, 2013, 11:04 AM

90% of the time our forwards are too high, and our skill guys try to dance into the offensive zone with the puck on their stick. Teams have figured this out now, and stand up at the blue line, and clog the neutral zone against us. CBJ did that, Nashville did that, and so did Minnesota.

These are the tendencies of an immature, and lazy team. Dumping pucks in, and chasing is hard work - and not always certain, but it works more often then not. Aside from a handful of guys, most of our team isn't willing to do this.

We will probably beat the Pens again, as we do well against good skating teams. But then it will be back to modus operandi lardass again.

Leafs PWN · #**128** November 28, 2013, 12:42 PM

What a farce by the refs last night. That last Malkin goal

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=437730

The Leafs sucked *** again anyways. Zero shots in the last 25 mins is inexcusable. RC either needs to get this group playing sound hockey with good possession numbers (before the seasons end) or he needs to **** off. The guy needs to get in touch with the modern NHL. Line matching alone isn't gonna win you hockey games.

Hope he gets canned this offseason. Don't see him taking this team anywhere. We are not built in a way that his kind of hockey can work. Doubt most modern teams are.

Beamer · #**129** November 29, 2013, 11:34 AM

Right call was made. Puck wasn't frozen. This happens every game in NHL. Refs lost sight and perhaps should have blown the whistle, but it worked out fine, since goalie didn't freeze it. Nothing there to see. Besides, if you choke away a 4-1 lead and not produce one single shot in third period, you deserve the result. No arguement there..

I am in pathetic Flyers land now. Its disgusting everywhere.

Leafs PWN · #**130** November 29, 2013, 11:55 AM

Pushing the goalie into the net is not goalie interference?

What we deserve and what the rules are is a different thing. Bottom line is Malkin scored an illegal goal to tie the game.

Sohel · #**131** November 30, 2013, 12:52 AM

The November nightmare ends on a positive note for the Red Wings with strong back to back wins. This team can only get stronger once Datsyuk and DeKeyser return soon. Of course having Helm, Nyquist and Tatar in the lineup made all the difference. Not only are they scoring, they're also making others, especially Franzen, better. They bring the combination of speed, passion, two-way skills and toughness that has defined Red Wings hockey since the early 1990s. Hope to see Jarnkrok getting an early shot this season.

Our team leaders (40-13-55) really stepped up during this "rebuilding on the fly" and it's great to see Zetterberg amongst the scoring leaders. Alfredsson has been a perfect fit. Howard getting the shutout was also a relief. Gustavsson has been a solid back-up.

But Kenny still has to deal with the useless old players he has signed for more than they're worth, and predictably cannot trade. It is simply awful to watch Cleary, Eaves, Tootoo and Samuelsson wearing the Winged Wheel in light of their utter lack of productivity. Quincey's schizophrenia is also a major issue but we have a number of better, younger D-men to take his place. I haven't given up on Weiss yet but he better start producing what he's being paid for. He's not being paid to compete to be a 4th line centerman. I'll be happy if he succeeds but won't be surprised if he fails. Kenny signed him after all.

Kenny's an overrated joke of GM who has lived on the fruits of Bowman's system for too long. He needs to get fired after this season no matter what happens during the playoffs. There has to be accountability for squandering all that cash for nothing, and no, he has not been forgiven for not re-signing Hossa. Chelios is the heir apparent, but won't it be great to get Bowman out of retirement? Not only our best coach ever, but also our greatest GM ever.

Beamer · #**132** November 30, 2013, 08:53 AM

The puck was not frozen. He did what any offensive player should do. He went fishing for it. The Leafs player was equally guilty in pushing his own goalie. It was far from a farce. These types of plays happen all the time in NHL. And, yes, Players like Malkin would get benefit of doubt more often. Calder, Art, Hart, Conn Smyth..So, he has earned his dues as a superstar in the league.

Sohel · #**133** November 30, 2013, 09:00 PM

Watching the Habs take on the Leafs. Never gets old, no matter how irrelevant these two teams have become with regards to the possibility of actually winning the Cup anytime soon. Maybe that's true of all Canada-based teams. At least they make it to the Cup finals every now and then and experience the glory of making the playoffs more frequently. Call it bad karma.

Montreal was the last Canada-based team to have won the Cup in 92-93 and the Leafs, a team whose Cuplessness has elevated that statistical anomaly to an art form, have been irrelevant since 1967. Leafs remain the ONLY Original Six team without the Cup to its name for 46 years and counting. Can they continue to survive these nervous 40s and reach the milestone? Can they repeat the feat for 50 more years after that? A hundred years without the Cup, now that would be something. Yep, keep playin' that early 60s hockey.

4-2 Montreal in the 2nd.

Sohel · #**134** December 1, 2013, 08:27 PM

Good win in Ottawa with Alfredsson assisting on Franzen's 7th of the season, and then finishing it off with an ENG, his own 7th GOS. Always important to beat a divisional rival, especially when coached by someone who knows our system well.

Sohel · #**135** December 2, 2013, 02:35 PM

Not good news at all on the Pavel Datsyuk front. The Free Press's Helene St. James reports that the Red Wings' most important player will probably miss his own "bobblehead night" at Joe Louis Arena this Wednesday against Philadelphia as Datsyuk's real bobbling head is still dealing with the after-effects of Jared Cowen's elbow.

Beamer · #**136** December 2, 2013, 03:47 PM

Malkin on fire last two weeks. Back to back #1 star of the week. Now trailing Crosby only by a point in scoring race. Having Neal back is wonderful for him. Pens just have to tread water until the back bone of defense , Scuderi and Martin, come back from extended injury. Also, the third line right now is basically AHL call ups due to injury. I won't complain much in light of the injury situation and as long as we win more than we lose right now, I am fine.

Sohel · #**137** December 3, 2013, 12:24 PM

UPDATE: Per Ken Holland, Henrik Zetterberg will miss a minimum of two weeks with a small herniated disc.

cricman · #**138** December 4, 2013, 10:47 AM

Lundqvist will retire a Ranger, I don't care if they overpaid, He's had a subpar year for his standards ... he deserves every penny. He could have bolted and not one NYR fan would have blamed him.

Beamer · #**139** December 4, 2013, 12:20 PM

I agree. Best goalie in the league. Rangers had to re-sign him. Cap will go up significantly from next year too. They had to do it.

Sohel · #**140** December 4, 2013, 08:29 PM

Playing Philly without Zetterberg and Datsyuk in the lineup. The first time this has happened since both started playing together in 2003, that's 10 years folks! DeKeyser's, an essential part of our top 4 D, not there either. Everyone except Cleary and Samuelsson have been promoted, lol.

Tatar just one-timed a goal, 1-0 Red Wings!

Sohel · #**141** December 4, 2013, 09:32 PM

Everyone has stepped up and we're looking like the Red Wings of old, MashAllah! If we continue to play like this after Hank, Pasha and Danny return, we won't be losing no game 7 to the Black Hawks this year, InshAllah. Nobody other than the Pens and the Bruins would have a chance against us in the playoffs.

Unrelenting. Creative. Cohesive. Menacing. Scary. Brutal hockey machine comprised of 4 lines that fill the opponent's hearts with anxiety and soul with emptiness. WOW, Red Wings, W-O-W!

I'll make the call now as I did back in 2003. Nyquist, Tatar, Helm, Abdel Kader, DeKeyser, Smith, Mrazek and possibly Jarnkrok would be our new homegrown superstars in 5 years max. Franzen has finally arrived to make matters even sweeter.

Sohel · #**142** December 4, 2013, 10:42 PM

Despite being severely depleted, we looked great and took a 3-1 lead before fading fast and losing 6-3!

Humbled by a Philly team that dug deep, readjusted and came back strong.

Beamer · #**143** December 5, 2013, 10:51 AM

They showed the game on TV. Just too many key injuries for Detroit. Played well enough, but just a bit too much to overcome. Playoff team for sure. I will say this about Cryers. They have a great group of top -9 forwards. Their goalie situation has been resolved. They are a very talented team when not running around. I think they will also make the playoffs and make life miserable for somebody.

Huge test for us vs Sharks tonight. Thats a great team. Right now Pens are a strictly two line team due to injuries. Top 2 D men are out, and that means call ups playing bottom 6. The Special team is carrying the Pens right now. No.1 PP in the league and getting goals every night. Not sure how long we can sustain that. 5on5 we are very average due to lack of depth. We will have to eventually make a trade down the road to the bolster the bottom 6.

Beamer · #**144** December 5, 2013, 12:03 PM

Malkin has been ruled OUT for tonight. Lower leg day to day. Man..Just when he was on fire and this had to happen. ugh..

Sohel · #**145** December 6, 2013, 10:30 PM

Excellent win in Jersey without Datsyuk, Zetterberg, DeKeyser and now Helm! Held them to just 11 shots. Tatar and Nyquist continue shine and I've never seen Franzen step up the way he has. Another win for Gustavsson. He has yet to lose in regulation this season.

Sohel · #**146** December 8, 2013, 12:49 AM

Pitiful loss against Weiss' old team. Did the occasion fire him up at all? Of course not! Can't wait for our top guys to return.

Leafs PWN · #**147** December 8, 2013, 07:29 PM

Shawn Thornton should get arrested.

Beamer · #**148** December 9, 2013, 11:21 AM

It is what it is Leafs PWN. They are bunch of low lifes in that team. Thats the way they play from coaches to players. They are also excellent in playing the victim card. Orpik hit on Ericksson was a legal hit. Skates never left the ice, shoulders in, drove his body in his chest. Too bad Loui got hurt and he has concussion issues. I feel bad for him. We know all about concussions here! There was no penalty. Perhaps, an interference could have been called. But, that's it. Julien kept on sending Thornton after Orpik. And, you all know what ensued. An assault happened. He slew foot him from behind and started to pummel his face. Now, he is on IR. We are already missing Scuderi, Martin and now Orpik ( Thats three of your top four ). Julien is playing the victim card. Pointing at the refusal to fight ( on Orpik's part ) and rationalizing the assault. So, every legal hit has to answered with a fight by your goon? Anyway...

Compare that to Bylsma, not a fan of his but he did the right thing with Neal , who made no attempt to avoid the head of Merchand. Bylsma said that his own player didn't make an effort to get his knee out of his way. How refreshing! Neal should get suspended. I do not like it, even though Marchand is as dirty as it gets. Still, no room for what Neal did. Funny how Marchand rolled around like he got stabbed, only to get back up right away and spear Kunitz in the face next shift.

League won't do much. There are a lot of Boston apologists in NHL. The commentary from NHL network is shameful. They are basically blaming Orpik for not fighting. Not surprised, because most of the panelists were ex goons, such as Kelly Chase, P J Stock and their ilk.

But, Thornton will get his day. If league doesn't suspend him for long term, some one will take care of him. Julien should get suspended. Won't happen. He instigated repeatedly.

BTW, Man what's going on with Leafs? Injuries? Still good on standing though. Lots of early W's in Sep-Oct. So, point standing is still good. I hope you guys make it. I like playoffs with both TOR an MTL in. Good for hockey.

Beamer · #**149** December 9, 2013, 11:28 AM

James Neal will have a hearing. We will miss his scoring. He revived Malkin after he came back from injury. Only played 15 games, but 10 goals and 10 assists. A pure sniper he has become. But, he deserves it. He needs to get his knee out there, even though its that lowly rat Marchand.

Leafs PWN · #**150** December 9, 2013, 03:01 PM

There's a lot of problems with the team, so I'll list them in order of importance:

- Lots of injuries: Bozak, Bolland, Lupul. As a result of this, we now have only one true top 9 NHL C in Kadri. He has been promoted to Kessel's line, so we have one true scoring line now. If that line doesn't score 2-3 goals in a game, we tend to lose. Before, Lupul and Bolland were huge for secondary scoring. Clarkson is a good player, but he really needs a good quality forward to make him score pts.

- Slumping PK: We were #2 in the league in PK last year, and top 5 through the first 2 months. Remember me saying PK is a big reasons why we win despite being outshot? Yea, we have gone to #26 now in PK. That and being a top 5 penalized team is usually a recipe for failure

- Bad possession numbers. Not having much zone time in the other end means you will have trouble scoring, and give up a lot of shots, which is exactly what has been happening over the last 10 games. We have given up 50 50 40 shots in the last 3 games. With an average of 37 shots against per game. Just think about those numbers for a second.

- Bad dmen: Aside from Phaneuf, Gardiner and Gunnarsson our D sucks - plain and simple. When half of your D is trash, you will have defensive lapses on a nightly basis. Liles looks rejuvenated in his last 3 games (was sent to AHL to help bring up his confidence). Hopefully he can help.

-Bad 4th line: Puts more pressure on the top 3 lines as they have to play a lot more. We have a couple youngsters up though, who show promise in that role.

Those are the main reasons I can think of. RC needs to get his **** together, as I continue to say.