I missed the anniversary, but Mario's 5 Goals in Five different ways is so mind-bogglingly awesome that it will never, ever, ever be duplicated.
(That is until Ovechkin does it.)
12/31/2008
12/30/2008
Stats delayed until 2009
Hi guys,
I'm afraid that I'm unlikely to get stats out until the new year. Sorry for the delay.
Doug
I'm afraid that I'm unlikely to get stats out until the new year. Sorry for the delay.
Doug
12/29/2008
Week 13 Lineups
Given the how busy I am likely to be Monday, I thought it a good idea to get a post up for our lineup submissions earlier rather than later. Hope everyone had an AWESOME holiday season!
Doug here, I've just bumped this to the top of the blog so it doesn't get lost. Week 12 stats are below.
The Ramapithicines win the Girodano sweepstakes and B.Ferrence is on the waiver-wire this week. Don't all jump at once.
Doug here, I've just bumped this to the top of the blog so it doesn't get lost. Week 12 stats are below.
The Ramapithicines win the Girodano sweepstakes and B.Ferrence is on the waiver-wire this week. Don't all jump at once.
12/27/2008
12/25/2008
12/23/2008
12/22/2008
12/21/2008
YOUR HOLIDAY LINE-UPS BELOW PLEASE
SO FOR WEEK 12, LEAVE FOR LINE-UPS AT THIS POSTING UNDER COMMENTS...
MERRY THANKS!
MERRY THANKS!
ww12
The GW simply dump this trash and finally promote another star prospect...
Waive: Giordano (Cgy) D
Promote: Doughty (LA) D
No bidders on Booth L FLA so he's vacuumed up into that wd2 collective fodder...
Bids on the above with your week 12 lineups...but caveat empor [?sp]
No bidders on Booth L FLA so he's vacuumed up into that wd2 collective fodder...
Bids on the above with your week 12 lineups...but caveat empor [?sp]
12/20/2008
12/19/2008
12/18/2008
Trevor Linden
I have to admit, I've always been a fan even though he was often a Flames killer.
Taken second overall in his draft year, he arrived almost fully formed as a 30 goal scoring winger with size and speed. He would later transform his game into that of a solid play-any-role forward, and ideal 2nd line center adding above average face-off and checking abilities to his repertoire of skills and physical play.
The trade of Linden to the Islanders may have netted the Canucks some nice pieces (Bertuzzi and McCabe) but it gutted the franchise of its heart and soul. Mike Keenan goes down in Canucks lore for rebuilding the team by gut punching the fans with that trade - after encouraging Linden to hand the captaincy over to a then useless Mark Messier.
Linden's career started at about the same time as the FUNHL did, and I have always been able to track the pools age by comparing it to Trevor's career.
If there is a stain on his shirt it is his performance as a Union Rep that installed Ted Saskin without proper procedures being followed. Classy to the end, Linden admitted his errors and stepped away from the role rather than continue to allow the situation to fester.
Always a great guy on and off the ice (he was the first player I knew of to purchase a luxury box and donate the seats to sick kids), Linden is IMO the greatest player the Canucks have ever produced and a deserving recipient of having his #16 jersey hang from the rafters in the city he played in.
Hockey links
Once again bringing you the best links since Gaetz roamed the blue-line for San Jose;
Mike Keenan says he was forced by ownership to blow up the Blues, but does it pass the smell test?
Despite the fact they are an Oiler blog, 'Lowetide' is IMO the best in the business. Here is his quickie salute to Trevor Linden.
Speaking of whom, here is a list of the top 10 Canucks of all-time.
Here are the 'Top Ten Goals scored off of Body Parts';
Warning, there is some actual footage of George Bush speaking. Any brain damage you suffer as a result is not the fault of this author.
Speaking of body parts, here are some mashups of different NHL player photos. Some of which (like Evgeni Ricci) are utterly freakish. My favourite is Donald Jagr.
Here is your obligatory Forsberg update! How do you know its Christmas? Forsberg is considering a comeback!
Speaking of comebacks, Mats Sundin is hoping to pry $6M out of the Rangers. I'd say that is plausible, but a lot of roster moves would need to be made to make it happen. At a minimum Petr Prucha would need to be sent to the minors, and or one or two players moved in trade. Could captain Chris Drury be on the block to make it happen?
Last but not least, Tom Benjamin parses the words of the Commish and his unwillingness to declare that the sky is falling.
Mike Keenan says he was forced by ownership to blow up the Blues, but does it pass the smell test?
Despite the fact they are an Oiler blog, 'Lowetide' is IMO the best in the business. Here is his quickie salute to Trevor Linden.
Speaking of whom, here is a list of the top 10 Canucks of all-time.
Here are the 'Top Ten Goals scored off of Body Parts';
Warning, there is some actual footage of George Bush speaking. Any brain damage you suffer as a result is not the fault of this author.
Speaking of body parts, here are some mashups of different NHL player photos. Some of which (like Evgeni Ricci) are utterly freakish. My favourite is Donald Jagr.
Here is your obligatory Forsberg update! How do you know its Christmas? Forsberg is considering a comeback!
Speaking of comebacks, Mats Sundin is hoping to pry $6M out of the Rangers. I'd say that is plausible, but a lot of roster moves would need to be made to make it happen. At a minimum Petr Prucha would need to be sent to the minors, and or one or two players moved in trade. Could captain Chris Drury be on the block to make it happen?
Last but not least, Tom Benjamin parses the words of the Commish and his unwillingness to declare that the sky is falling.
12/15/2008
Week 10 Stats
The Highlanders and Personal Vendetta continue to jockey for 1st place while the Severed Heads, with the league's best week, have now narrowed the gap from first to third to a mere 8pts. The gap from 1st to 12th, however, is now almost 100pts and the bottom quartet are starting to see some separation. The Shadowmen have the league's second best week and are making a bid to return, if not to the Predator Cup lead group, at least to the chase group. There is a lot of hockey left to play, though, and nobody should get too comfortable with their place in the standings.
12/14/2008
Week 11 Line-ups Please.
Hi Gang,
Thanks again for everyone who has posted (or re-posted) line-ups here to the blog. It is a big assist for me in doing stats.
Seriously, you think I make mistakes now? You should see what happens when I have to go from my e-mail - or my memory. :-)
Thanks again for everyone who has posted (or re-posted) line-ups here to the blog. It is a big assist for me in doing stats.
Seriously, you think I make mistakes now? You should see what happens when I have to go from my e-mail - or my memory. :-)
Best. Questionnaire. Ever.
This was so funny I had to wipe coffee off the computer screen. And I wasn't even drinking coffee.
12/13/2008
12/12/2008
12/10/2008
Waiver Wire Week 10
Because the Hobbit "Hudler" was promoted the injured David Booth at LW is available with week 11 line-ups...
Week 9 Stats
Hi guys,
I thought I posted these on Monday but apparently I hadn't. Sorry about the delay with these and with stats for this week. Work is, well, work. I will try catch up soon.
12/09/2008
FUNHL News and Notes
After he broke out of his three season long slump posting offensive totals in the mid 30's with three seasons at just sub a ppg, the headlines have been a constant drumbeat of 'will this be the year Hemsky breaks out'? The answer is 'no'. To be blunt he is 25 years old and what you see now with Hemsky is what you get, a 20 goal, 50 assist guy when his lights are turned on. It ain't bad, it just ain't ever going to be superstar.
The NBA has some strange provisions in their players agreement that make Dec 15th a target date for GMs looking to make deals (i.e. look for the Raptors to address their shortage of an athletic small-forward or shooting guard on or about that date). In contrast the NHL allows deals to occur at any time with the only real interesting dates being trade-deadline day and that strange window in the summer when you can move some players with no-trade clauses you otherwise can't move. That said, the Christmas season tends to have its fair share of movement, in part because the GM meetings take place at this time, and because its around Christmas that teams have a better sense of their needs. Complicating matters is that there tend to be one or two free-agents - typically older former all-stars who have been healing up (in this case Sundin and Shanahan) for whom this provides an opportunity to sign on for a half season or so - the incentive being that half a season means half a paycheck, and half a cap-hit. So....
Expect Sundin to sign in the next week - and I predict for a variety of reason that it will be with the Rangers where I also predict he will be an awesome fit.
Expect Gaborik to be moved in a large package deal now that he is recovered from injury. It could drag on till the trade deadline, but I think Riseborough would rather take an early offer (better for the team to move onwards) than a later one that would be more disruptive. My expected destination is still Vancouver (where best buddy Demitra is signed and where the Canucks have oodles of cap-room and ice-time to offer him).
In contrast I expect Kovalchuk will be dealt at the deadline. Atlanta isn't going anywhere and there is no team chemistry to disrupt, so waiting till the last possible minute to move him makes the most sense (at least to me - who knows what Atlanta mgt thinks). My prediction is Montreal makes the best offer and that Kovie will sign there in no small part due to the large Russian presence already on the team.
I'm betting Jay Bouwemeester ends up in Ottawa somehow with my backup bet Calgary. Florida is a mess, J-Bo wants out, and Ottawa is desperate to replace the puck movers they have lost in recent years with Chara, Redden, Corvo and Meszaros all going elsewhere. A package of Vermette, Foligno, a 1st and a 2nd (though probably in different years) might do the trick. I mention Calgary because J-Bo would be at or near the top of Sutter's wish-list. Unfortunately either Irving Leland or Mikael Backlund would likely be heading the other way in any deal.
With the Bolts now well into a full-scale radioactive meltdown I expect Vincent Lecavalier might ask to be put on to the trading block. He clearly isn't having any fun, and the team isn't likely to be a Disneyland under Tocchet any time soon. Vinny has gotten two coaches gassed in the last half a year, so if Tocchet can't get him going it probably won't be Tocchet who is asked to leave. If Vinny does become available the obvious destination is Montreal where he would be a hometown hero - until he has his first bad game.
One of the sillier things being discussed by GMs is an attempt to restrict the dates at which Free Agents like Sundin can sign with a team. Why is it silly? Because the longer a free-agent waits the cheaper he is, and the less his cap-hit. Sure it means that a free-agent can create an endless news cycle of 'will he/won't he'? (google Sundin Signing? for a gazillion recent examples) but at the end of the day restricting when they can sign hurts teams more than it helps them avoid bidding wars.
Last but not least I expect a lot of bad news regarding a handful of US teams including but not limited to bankruptcies, franchises moving in the dead of night and (wait for it...) Jim Ballsillie getting his grubby money soaked mittens on a team. The problem for the NHL is that there is only one JB, and one Southern Ontario market to fill. Winnipeg has no billionaires looking for new toys, nor does Quebec City - which means that when Atlanta, Florida, Phoenix, Nashville and Columbus all crap the bed at once, only one of those five is going to get drycleaning.
The NBA has some strange provisions in their players agreement that make Dec 15th a target date for GMs looking to make deals (i.e. look for the Raptors to address their shortage of an athletic small-forward or shooting guard on or about that date). In contrast the NHL allows deals to occur at any time with the only real interesting dates being trade-deadline day and that strange window in the summer when you can move some players with no-trade clauses you otherwise can't move. That said, the Christmas season tends to have its fair share of movement, in part because the GM meetings take place at this time, and because its around Christmas that teams have a better sense of their needs. Complicating matters is that there tend to be one or two free-agents - typically older former all-stars who have been healing up (in this case Sundin and Shanahan) for whom this provides an opportunity to sign on for a half season or so - the incentive being that half a season means half a paycheck, and half a cap-hit. So....
Expect Sundin to sign in the next week - and I predict for a variety of reason that it will be with the Rangers where I also predict he will be an awesome fit.
Expect Gaborik to be moved in a large package deal now that he is recovered from injury. It could drag on till the trade deadline, but I think Riseborough would rather take an early offer (better for the team to move onwards) than a later one that would be more disruptive. My expected destination is still Vancouver (where best buddy Demitra is signed and where the Canucks have oodles of cap-room and ice-time to offer him).
In contrast I expect Kovalchuk will be dealt at the deadline. Atlanta isn't going anywhere and there is no team chemistry to disrupt, so waiting till the last possible minute to move him makes the most sense (at least to me - who knows what Atlanta mgt thinks). My prediction is Montreal makes the best offer and that Kovie will sign there in no small part due to the large Russian presence already on the team.
I'm betting Jay Bouwemeester ends up in Ottawa somehow with my backup bet Calgary. Florida is a mess, J-Bo wants out, and Ottawa is desperate to replace the puck movers they have lost in recent years with Chara, Redden, Corvo and Meszaros all going elsewhere. A package of Vermette, Foligno, a 1st and a 2nd (though probably in different years) might do the trick. I mention Calgary because J-Bo would be at or near the top of Sutter's wish-list. Unfortunately either Irving Leland or Mikael Backlund would likely be heading the other way in any deal.
With the Bolts now well into a full-scale radioactive meltdown I expect Vincent Lecavalier might ask to be put on to the trading block. He clearly isn't having any fun, and the team isn't likely to be a Disneyland under Tocchet any time soon. Vinny has gotten two coaches gassed in the last half a year, so if Tocchet can't get him going it probably won't be Tocchet who is asked to leave. If Vinny does become available the obvious destination is Montreal where he would be a hometown hero - until he has his first bad game.
One of the sillier things being discussed by GMs is an attempt to restrict the dates at which Free Agents like Sundin can sign with a team. Why is it silly? Because the longer a free-agent waits the cheaper he is, and the less his cap-hit. Sure it means that a free-agent can create an endless news cycle of 'will he/won't he'? (google Sundin Signing? for a gazillion recent examples) but at the end of the day restricting when they can sign hurts teams more than it helps them avoid bidding wars.
Last but not least I expect a lot of bad news regarding a handful of US teams including but not limited to bankruptcies, franchises moving in the dead of night and (wait for it...) Jim Ballsillie getting his grubby money soaked mittens on a team. The problem for the NHL is that there is only one JB, and one Southern Ontario market to fill. Winnipeg has no billionaires looking for new toys, nor does Quebec City - which means that when Atlanta, Florida, Phoenix, Nashville and Columbus all crap the bed at once, only one of those five is going to get drycleaning.
There is a reason....
....that Evgeni Malkin leads the NHL's scoring race.
The first assist, an inside-outside deke backhand pass to Rusty Fedotenko for the tap in is just sick. The second assist, a one-touch cross-ice feed to Rusty for his second is also a beauty.
Not a bad consolation prize for Pittsburgh losing the Ovechkin sweepstakes eh?
The first assist, an inside-outside deke backhand pass to Rusty Fedotenko for the tap in is just sick. The second assist, a one-touch cross-ice feed to Rusty for his second is also a beauty.
Not a bad consolation prize for Pittsburgh losing the Ovechkin sweepstakes eh?
12/08/2008
Hitting the buzzer on Hockey Buzz
One of the sites we have linked to is 'Hockey Buzz' (see left). It's a site run by 'Eklund', a guy who claims to have insider contacts throughout the league that feed him a variety of rumours and innuendo that he then classifies with his own rating system. Eklund's reputation was built during the lockout when he seemed to have lots of info (mostly reliable) on what was going on - especially in the players camp.
But now? He's something of a joke.
Here's a look at his predictions for just one guy - Mats Sundin, as compiled by David Johnson at 'Hockey Analysis' (a site I link to immediately after Hockey Buzz).
The post is quite lengthy, in part because Eklund has reported so voluminously on Sundin, and spared no effort in fielding any and all of his speculations.
One of his commenters (James Goneaux) summarized it as follows;
Here's a prediction, I predict I won't be taking anything I read on his site without ingesting a industrial barrel full of NACL first. Book it.
But now? He's something of a joke.
Here's a look at his predictions for just one guy - Mats Sundin, as compiled by David Johnson at 'Hockey Analysis' (a site I link to immediately after Hockey Buzz).
The post is quite lengthy, in part because Eklund has reported so voluminously on Sundin, and spared no effort in fielding any and all of his speculations.
One of his commenters (James Goneaux) summarized it as follows;
"Let’s just add up the teams he says Sundin may be going to:
1 Colorado
2 NY Rangers
3 Montreal
4 Vancouver
5 Philly
6 Chicago
7 St. Louis
8 Toronto
9 Washington
10 Entire “Central Division”
11 Buffalo
12 Detroit
13 Ottawa
14 Calgary
So, that’s half the league."
So not only is Eklund running an eyesore of a sight drenched in ads and unecessary video that starts to play immediately upon loading and rife with 2nd rate writers and gossip mongers, he fails even the most basic smell test when it comes to making predictions.Here's a prediction, I predict I won't be taking anything I read on his site without ingesting a industrial barrel full of NACL first. Book it.
Week 10 Lineups
As always please post your lineups in the comments section for Doug's ease of use.
Merci
Merci
12/07/2008
Bring Back The Jets!
There were rumours going around that at least one NHL team and as many as three were in serious financial difficulties, and that one in particular was going to have trouble making payroll. The speculation I had heard - and that was promptly denied - was that this team was Tampa Bay (where the ownership/coaching/player circus seemingly never ends).
Turns out that the team in trouble is actually the Phoenix Coyotes.
It never made that much sense to me that Phoenix would have a hockey team while Winnipeg doesn't.
Is there a Ballsillie in Winnipeg to bring the team back home?
Turns out that the team in trouble is actually the Phoenix Coyotes.
It never made that much sense to me that Phoenix would have a hockey team while Winnipeg doesn't.
Is there a Ballsillie in Winnipeg to bring the team back home?
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