- 11:44 AM
- 12/18/24
It hurts, skydivedad. It hurts bad. Though I bet any of you would have done the same, since I would have had to bench Demitra or Arnott to play him. But that don't make it taste any better. And I'm in last place! Thrills.
posted by Succa at 10:18 AM on October 06, 2006
Correction, good to see Reinprecht have a four-point night when I have him on the bench tonight. Christ. This is gonna be a long year.
posted by Succa at 07:14 AM on October 06, 2006
Well, I think it's safe to say the Leafs got their revenge tonight. Holy smokes. What a disaster. Hey, good to see Reinprecht get a PPG when I have him on the bench tonight.
posted by Succa at 09:40 PM on October 05, 2006
Well, so much for that trade. I don't think Blake will be so bad as you say... he'll be teaming up with Visnovsky on the PP, and I think Cloutier gets too bad of a rap because the first thing anyone thinks when they hear "Cloutier" is the Lidstrom goal. You know it's true. Anyway I'm not willing to move Niedermayer unless I'm getting a solid #1, so I'll have to explore other options...
posted by Succa at 09:38 AM on October 04, 2006
Fisher could be an excellent sleeper pick this year. He's the #2 center to start the year, playing next to a guy named Alfie. If Old Man Smolinski can lay down a 50 point season next to the guy, surely Fisher is good for 60 or more. Also, damn all the people who took the following guys off the waiver wire while I wasn't looking: Bernier, Penner, Kunitz, Cloutier, Semin, and Wellwood.
posted by Succa at 07:06 PM on October 03, 2006
I did okay with the autodraft. Some big names and a couple of stud D. The goaltending is a problem but I may wait until things simmer down before making a move. So many goaltending questions to be answered... I can get 82 games out of Eddie and Auld, providing I know which one is starting on a given night. But those are 82 crappy, Floridian games.
posted by Succa at 01:02 PM on October 02, 2006
Ahh well. No dice. Good luck with the draft y'all. I'm just gonna sit here and pray I don't end up with F. Kaberle, A. Nittimaki, S. Ozolinsh, and S. Yzerman.
posted by Succa at 02:29 PM on September 29, 2006
The player queue thing doesn't seem to work for me. Or can I only do that once the draft starts?
posted by Succa at 02:15 PM on September 29, 2006
Crap! The stupid thing doesn't let you pre-rank players within 45 minutes of the draft?? What's that all about? God damn it all. I managed to do some basic preranking earlier this week but I've still got a baaaad feeling about this... come on, stupid applet...
posted by Succa at 02:00 PM on September 29, 2006
It isn't working for me either. I tried IE and Firefox. Never had this problem in previous years. I hope the "test" is buggy because I'd rather not spend my whole afternoon ranking players... argh...
posted by Succa at 12:45 PM on September 29, 2006
We had 20 teams last year too, and 3 bench and 1 IR. As of now we're set for 4 bench and one IR. I vote for 3-1, like last year. Er... yes. I'm fine with SHP as the sixth offensive stat (do we need a sixth offensive stat?). It's too bad Yahoo doesn't let you use hits as a stat now that the league is recording it as such. Ahh well.
posted by Succa at 04:05 PM on September 20, 2006
Looks like we have one more Bench spot this year. I vote nay. I agree. With this many teams in the league this year, three bench and one IR is too much. I know that some people wanted to get rid of SHP, but I haven't heard a case for a better choice as a 6th offensive stat. What are the other choices?
posted by Succa at 08:49 AM on September 20, 2006
Can there be a preseason pool too? Kidding! Almost.
posted by Succa at 07:56 PM on September 19, 2006
Zetterberg over Lidstrom for the C? Really? I'm not seeing it....
posted by Succa at 06:16 PM on September 15, 2006
I meant "last-place team" only as a figure of speech, knowing that they're not literally last-place. But third-last in the West and twenty points out of a playoff spot is closer to "last place" than not. I'd love to see the Jackets make the playoffs. Their fans deserve it, for sure. Doug MacLean clearly doesn't share this thought, though. Pretty much every move he's ever made has been brutal. The Carter signing might end up being a good move, and I can't wait to see Brule, but it'll be hard to leapfrog over the congestion in the middle of the Western Conference standings. If they bring Zherdev back (or get something of value for him) or find a way to unload Fedorov or Foote I could see the team's fortunes changing.
posted by Succa at 02:53 PM on September 15, 2006
Most of the reports say that Zherdev wants more years than Columbus is willing to offer. Sort of amazing that he would give up a season for that. It's almost like he's undervaluing his own services. I mean, what if Zherdev exceeds expectations with the Jackets, and he's locked himself for five years in at too low a rate relative to his performance? He's clearly not worried about this possibility. Carter on the other hand has always been about the money. Can he honestly claim to be thrilled about playing for a last-place club? This is his seventh NHL team, and he's only 32 years old. He's officially a rental player. It's awfully frustrating to watch a guy with his talent floating from team to team every off-season in search of the best deal, and signing one-year contracts with last-place teams to boost his stats for next year's negotiations.
posted by Succa at 12:58 PM on September 15, 2006
I'm in as Les Coupes Longueuil, in honour of your league password choice.
posted by Succa at 07:18 PM on August 28, 2006
Gonna have to go with the traditional SpoFi pool this year.... and anticipating my traditional 2nd or 4th place finish.
posted by Succa at 01:50 PM on August 28, 2006
The Macho Man (real name Randy Poffo) was a catcher for the Cincinnati Reds, I believe.
posted by Succa at 12:18 PM on May 25, 2006
Since all my predictions have been terrible, let's say ANAHEIM in 5, CAROLINA in 7. I'm hoping for the opposite. Actually, I don't care anymore. I'm dead meat in my pool and my team is out. Go Oil, I suppose.
posted by Succa at 04:29 PM on May 18, 2006
One win ain't nothin'. If the Sens can dominate Game 5 and win big, we have a series on our hands. But the 2-1 nailbiters won't cut it for Ottawa at this point. If every game is as close as last night's, they're bound to lose one more. Fortunately, the real Senators -- the team that scored 312 goals this season -- have yet to show up in this series. Here's hoping they arrive Saturday night, in time for the game.
posted by Succa at 08:00 AM on May 12, 2006
Cheers, Weedy. This is probably the last year you'll see the Sens in their current form (it's the 94 Expos all over again! Whee!). I'm the only person that thinks the problem is behind the bench. Murray is not the right guy for this squad. But it won't matter, since Chara, Havlat, and one of Heatley, Spezza, or Alfredsson, will be gone next year. Muckler may go after a goalie, but I doubt they'll get anyone who is measurably better than Emery.
posted by Succa at 09:26 AM on May 11, 2006
Oh lord. You could not conceive of a worse ending to a game than that. Emery needs to be better, but to be fair, I thought most of the goals were the fault of bad defensive play by the forwards. What happened to Ottawa's vaunted two-way game? Two shorthanded two-on-one goals? Cripes. I could shit. I really could.
posted by Succa at 09:26 PM on May 05, 2006
May I can also point out never having met a Canadian that says "aboot". The pronounciation might be somehow different than the typical American way to say about, but it certainly ain't the oo sound in my experience, despite the stereotype. Correct. The pronounciation is like "a boat", not "a boot".
posted by Succa at 12:29 PM on May 05, 2006
Jagrjagrjagrjagrjagrajagrjagrjagrjagrjagr!
posted by Succa at 06:43 AM on May 05, 2006
Will nobody else pick a sweep?
posted by Succa at 04:11 PM on May 04, 2006
West San Jose in 5 - Still waiting for a guy named Joe to appear... Anaheim in 7 - I like Niedermayer and Teemu over Blake and Sakic. East Ottawa in 4 - You better believe it, baby! Buffalo doesn't have the defense to stop this squad. Not even close. New Jersey in 5 - Carolina's play against Montreal was less than inspiring, and is NJ hotter than hot shit. This will be ugly.
posted by Succa at 10:24 AM on May 04, 2006
Don Cherry made his picks at the beginning of the season. Ottawa over Calgary. Grapes picked two Canadian teams, imagine that. Then again, he also predicted Brandon Bochenski would win the Calder...
posted by Succa at 05:24 PM on April 19, 2006
So... has anyone else given more than twenty minutes of thought towards trying to create the program described in Ms. Summers' thesis? Anyone? Please?
posted by Succa at 05:18 PM on April 19, 2006
Ottawa - 5 - The exit's over there, Tampa. Carolina - 7 - The Habs aren't pushovers, and Carolina hasn't looked like itself lately. But when Weight and Recchi finally come alive, Le Tricolore is in trouble. NJ - 5 - Marty and Co. are looking unstoppable right now. Madden will be on Jags like Oprah on a glazed ham. Buffalo - 6 - Buffalo is hitting their stride in a big way, and Forsberg is playing hurt. The Sabres have been playing playoff-style hockey all season and the Flyers are a different team every night. Also, goaltending. Detroit - 5 - hard not to pick the Wings here. Okay, impossible not to. Dallas - 7 - Colorado is good, but not great. And Dallas has been cool and confident all year long. Theodore will steal a game or two, and cost a game or two, as expected. Calgary - 7 - This one's also a tough call. Calgary has the worst offense in the league, but the best goaltending. Anaheim is sorta good at everything. I give it to Jarome's boys in a close one. Nashville - 5 - Here's my upset pick! Chris Mason comes through amid all the early dismissals! The Preds are red-hot lately and are playing like they're out to prove the critics wrong. I love this team.
posted by Succa at 07:47 AM on April 19, 2006
My point was merely that goals are a better indicator than assists because assists are more susceptible to being gratuitously tacked-on. You can have an unassisted goal but you can't have an un-goaled assist. And so on. That's why I give the nod to goals in the rookie race. It's not that assists aren't important. They are merely less important on the whole.
posted by Succa at 10:56 AM on April 18, 2006
I give it to Ovechkin, because goals are more important than assists. Assists are too freely given out, I think. It's easy to imagine lots of scenarios where a player who doesn't contribute anything to a particular goal ends up with an assist next to his name. Harder to imagine the goalscorer having little to do with the play. In AO's case, he frequently does all the goalscoring work himself. Being an Eastern Bastard, I haven't seen nearly enough of Phaneuf to make much of an evaluation. The little I have seen was damned impressive. Same goes for Svatos.
posted by Succa at 07:29 AM on April 18, 2006
I may require surgery to correct the damage inflicted by the Bill Walton one.
posted by Succa at 04:10 PM on April 05, 2006
Is Chara's hand broken? I thought it was just "swollen". I'm not sure, but Ottawa has never been particularly, shall we say... honest, vis-a-vis player injuries. McGrattan definitely wins in the style category, for the way he casually chucks his gloves and stick halfway across the rink before every fight. Sticking the tongue out like MJ doesn't hurt either.
posted by Succa at 10:41 AM on April 05, 2006
The McGrattan vs Fedoruk scrap sure was a beauty. Boogaard is a monster. Jeez. I hadn't seen much of him this year, but this clip says it all... ouch. No mention of Chara? Surely a guy who breaks his own hand on another guy's melon more than once in his career deserves some kind of kudos...
posted by Succa at 10:27 AM on April 05, 2006
We'd need to get together for sure. Could very well happen. Where do you go to catch the games in this town? I took a friend to the Peel Pub for the Habs/Leafs game last weekend... and I confess that it was awesome. Great crowd, total debauchery, bad food, ugly women, and drunkenness. But I'm never going again. Unless the Habs play the Sens in the playoffs.
posted by Succa at 09:06 PM on April 04, 2006
I can't believe I'm the first to say LEAFFILTER! Oh, and nice column Weedy. I must say that I regret leaving Southern Ontario at the least opportune time, from a mockery perspective... when the Sens are on top and the Leafs are on the outside looking in. Calling all those 416, 905, and 519 area codes after the Sens take the Cup just isn't gonna be the same. So, Leaf fans... if you could rid yourself of one employee of MLSE, who would it be? I would choose Ferguson, myself. Ol' JFJ has been less than impressive in his tenure, I say. I mean, does Pat Quinn really need someone else to sign aging ex-stars for him? Where's the youth? Where's the hope for the future? Why doesn't JFJ say "I'm blowing this sucker up and rebuilding" and be done with it?
posted by Succa at 09:00 PM on April 04, 2006
Where is Succa, anyway? Haven't seen him around for a while. I'm here! Sporadically, but here! Grum sucks! My Sens are looking good. The injuries are a concern, yes, but they're all expected to be back for the playoffs, plus a bonus Havlat. There doesn't seem to be any one first-round matchup I'd favour over the others. NJ just isn't the same NJ. Tampa looks about as intimidating as a sack of orange peel. But now that I live in Montreal, a Sens-Habs battle might be fun... Looking at the standings right now, I can't see much changing, but since there's bound to be one surprise finisher I'm gonna say San Jose will make it at the expense of the Oil. Two games in hand, and their schedule isn't too bad. In any case, the Western matchups are a lot more intriguing. I'll give the Stars some props. Shootout wins aren't real wins though, everybody knows that. ;-)
posted by Succa at 03:00 PM on March 31, 2006
For clarity, let's say this is what happened on the Nash non-goal -- Gerber gloves the puck outside the plane of the goal, but then his catcher swings back inside it. What's the ruling on that? If they can prove the glove (and thus the puck) crossed the line all the way, it's a goal. For example, Lemieux had a goal on Hasek in the last Olympics where Hasek fell back into the net after making the save with his chest.
posted by Succa at 02:00 PM on February 18, 2006
For a goal to be a goal, you have to be able to prove it's over the line. It's not enough to say "it's not not over the line, so it's a goal." I thought both calls were the right ones. There's not much to say about this. Canada bit it hard, and all we can hope is that it pisses them off enough to start playing like they can. Though, it's hard to ignore that they outshot the Swiss 24-1 in the third period. Not panicking yet, though Finland is looking pretty good so far....
posted by Succa at 01:45 PM on February 18, 2006
I'm surprised Dryden isn't higher, though I guess the postseason doesn't matter in the Calder race. He won the Cup despite playing a grand total of six NHL games prior to that postseason! Yeah, he was on a great team, but that is remarkable. His whole career had probably the highest achievement-to-years-played ratio of any athlete you can name. Six Cups in eight seasons, then he quit. Careers don't get much better than that.
posted by Succa at 03:30 PM on February 06, 2006
Dirty player. Will always say that. Can't convince me otherwise. Dirty, dirty, dirty. But, a good player too. I don't think of him as HOF-worthy but certainly a big contributor to NJs Cups. Is it just me or does it seem like number-retirings have gone up tenfold in the last few years? I have no data to back this up... just a feeling.
posted by Succa at 03:18 PM on February 03, 2006
They gave up three picks (incl. a first-rounder) and three players to get him. I'd say that's a lot for a rental player, even if none of the individual pieces amount to much. The Canes are looking good. The East will be a war this year.
posted by Succa at 02:16 PM on January 30, 2006
Happy to hear Milbury's out. Worst GM EVER. You could fill out an entire All-Star team roster with the players he's cast aside. Now if only Yashin would agree to a contract, er, "restructuring", this team might have a chance in the next twenty years.
posted by Succa at 12:52 PM on January 12, 2006
"I didn't really know what was going on until the guy came on," a grinning Theodore said later. "He came at me with his head down so I just wanted to say `Welcome to the big boys.' "I poke-checked him to say `You have to keep your head up.' When he came back, I though about going out of the net and not playing into his game, but then I thought he had the (courage) to go on the ice, so I let him have a free shot at me. "He couldn't beat me. That's the main thing." While waiting for the police to arrive, Raphael told reporters that while Theodore is a "great goalie," he didn't score because "I didn't have time." Gotta love it.
posted by Succa at 09:28 AM on January 10, 2006
I'm a little surprised they didn't choose McCabe, but they're not exactly hurting for scoring power either. Also surprised Regehr and Foote were considered guaranteed choices while McCabe wasn't. All this talk of Crosby on the team is ridiculous. The only reason he'd be on this team is for marketing purposes. They have enough established playmakers and he doesn't really bring anything that isn't already available in spades. Great player, but he's not there yet. Spezza, too, though it's a little harder to overlook one of the league's leading scorers than it is an 18-year-old rookie. Staal, I'm not sure about. Either way, there are bound to be injuries, so we'll see McCabe, Spezza, or Staal play at some point. Where's the love for CuJo? Maybe Wayne didn't want to be accused of Coyote nepotism. And Toronto bashing is never passé, Weedy!
posted by Succa at 09:12 AM on December 23, 2005
Drop the puck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I like Ottawa (obvs.), Boston, and Atlanta in the East...SJ, Nashville, Calgary in the West. This year predictions mean nothing. Nobody has any idea what's going to happen, and I like it that way. Hopefully the obstruction crackdown sticks in some form. I liked what I saw in the preseason (minus all the penalties). When I hear that Hockey Night In Canada music, my blood's gonna start pumping....until I realize, as always, that they're showing a Leafs game. Then, drinking. Yay hockey!
posted by Succa at 10:18 AM on October 05, 2005
We're bound to see some players out of a job, that's for sure. Count on this being Chelios' last season. Still, I think a lot of obstruction is just positioning. It's great to see them cracking down on hooking and other stick infractions, but I'm not convinced this will lead to significantly better hockey. Teams will still trap, and speedsters will still have to earn their open ice. There's only so much the league can do in this regard. Defensive hockey will only disappear when playing defensively is no longer the best way to win, and I'm not so sure the new rules are going to change that. But as everyone says...we'll see. And, hurry up and drop the puck! October 5th can't get here soon enough.
posted by Succa at 05:14 PM on September 09, 2005
I do not think Heatley is better than Hossa. And you can't tell me Hossa was a playoff disappearer this past season -- he was one of the few guys who wasn't. That said, I like this trade, because it will allow Ottawa to keep Chara and Redden next year. That's the only reason I like it. Heatley is an exciting player to have but in my opinion he is not as talented as Hossa, nor will he be as productive. He may be more marketable. We will have to see. But this was a salary cap deal without question.
posted by Succa at 09:05 AM on August 30, 2005
With the spending that's going on, it should be obvious to everyone that the owner's crying poor over the CBA was nothing more than propaganda. Brian Rafalski signs for 4.2 mill a year? There's a reason your team can't make any money, Lou, and it ain't the CBA... I think there's nothing wrong with sitting tight while the free-agent frenzy explodes all around you. There will be plenty available at the trade deadline I bet, and the teams with lots of cap space will be able to load up just as easily. Nobody knows what the new rules will bring, and nobody knows how valuable a 30-year-old is anymore. Watching Forsberg go to Philly is painful to watch, but they've also lost Recchi, Leclair, Amonte, and Roenick.....
posted by Succa at 03:51 PM on August 04, 2005
Berard is a Blue Jacket. Our friend Eklund is reporting some further madness. If you care to visit his site, I'll let you see for yourselves... Well, can't say they're not at least trying to make it interesting. I believe the term "free agent frenzy" was right on the money, no pun intended.
posted by Succa at 03:35 PM on August 03, 2005
I don't think Ottawa needs much. A decent two-way C or LW and I think they're good, though I wouldn't mind that Proverbial Power Forward they've needed for years. Though for whatever reason they chose not to qualify Prusek which I think is a mistake. If Hasek's groin injury flares up, do you really want Crazy Ray Emery as your starting tender?
posted by Succa at 12:10 PM on August 03, 2005
LeafFilter AGAIN? :-) All the Eastern Canadian teams have been quiet lately....I see the Habs just re-signed Kovalev, and there are strong rumours (not just from Eklund) that Ottawa is signing Martin Lapointe (hopefully for a drastic pay reduction). Alberta is definitely the place to be right now. And furthermore...where are the Wings, Sharks, Devils, and Avs? And how come no goaltenders are moving?
posted by Succa at 11:12 AM on August 03, 2005
That's cold, Grum...so, so cold. Anyway, how huge is Pronger to the Oil! Pretty good pickup if you ask me. Brewer has long been overrated in my book. I think Calgary had the best day yesterday, though. Amonte and McCarty for practically nothing. And it looks like they've just re-signed Iggy. Things are looking up in Alberta these days. Still waiting for the other Canadian teams to make a splash...
posted by Succa at 10:32 AM on August 03, 2005
Costanza shortage!
I nominate myself. My team in the SpoFi pool, Les Coupes Longueuil is a disaster so far, and there's no end in sight. I continue to blame forces beyond my control, viz. the auto-draft that stuck me with Osgood and Auld as my goalies.