I anticipate the blog returning to the more aesthetically pleasing Malkin/Heatley format next year.
- The Pensblog has itself in high dudgeon over the man-love that Pierre Mcguire lavishes on Mike Richards during the telecasts.
"Richards is taking this game over. He made one play. What a leader."
"Doc and Edzo, I'm touching my penis right now.During that commercial break, Richards sat on the bench drinking water. That leadership doesn't grow on trees."
"Doc and Edzo, I can't comment right now. Richard's genitals are in my vicinity."
"Okay, I'm back. Did you see Richards congratulate his teammate after that goal? I have such an erection right now."
"Doc and Edzo, Richards calmed down his bench after that penalty. I swear, if I had to acquire AIDS, I'd want it from Mike Richards."
All class those guys at Pensblog, but they do bring the funny. And Mcguire does bring the unecessary man-love, so call it poor-taste if you will but don't be afraid to laugh when you say it.
- The Minnesota Wild in an effort to find legitimacy have canned both Lemaire and Risebrough. Rumours abound that the dressing room was a fractious mess, that the players loathed the coach, that Risebrough encouraged Backstrom to play through a bad-hip (that now requires surgery) and that the hyped Norris candidacy of Brent Burns was derailed because the team didn't treat his concussion properly. Is it a coincidence that Burns shares an agent with Gaborik, and that there may be some gamesmanship going on? Probably not. But the Wild's drafting has been almost uniformly terrible (AJ Thelen? Benoit Pouliot? - where are you?), in particular the decline is noticeable witht he 2004 draft which produced exactly zero NHL players for them, not to mention the offense has always been a mess, and the whole thing could take them some time to clean it up.
If Wild ownership reads this they should know I'm available.
- The Severed Heads post-mortem wasn't as ugly as some previous years, but there were a number of stink-0 decisions that cost the team;
Drafting Lecavalier instead of Datsyuk in the 1st.
Colin White as +/- down the stretch
Trading Tavares to get back the Mono-ridden zombie corpse of Phil Kessel.
Trading Luongo for Kiprusoff and St Louis
Failing to promote the red-hot Bobby Ryan over the suddenly pacifistic Chris Neil
None of which were solely responsible for the teams failed stretch drive, but all of them contributed in their own small way to falling short, especially over the last three weeks when the hardware was on the line.
...and so it goes.
- Now that the season is over with and the playoffs are rolling, ones attention naturally turns to next years FUNHL ED (at least mine does when it is not focused like a laser beam on the upcoming NHL ED) .
In my conversations with two other GMs, here are 12 names we are fairly confident will go in the 1st rnd;
Getzlaf-C Ana, Parise-L NJ, Datsyuk-C Det, Semin-L Wsh, Nabokov-G SJ, Backstrom-G Min, Rafalski-D Det, Boyle-D SJ, Gonchar-D Pit, Alfreddson-R Ott, Phaneuf-Cgy (FP), Malkin-C Pit (FP)
The first four guys on the list could all be new FPs, and the last two guys definitely will be as they are both RFAs simply begging to be long-term contracts. As usual though, these predictions are always wrong in that someone goes off the board to take a guy nobody expected.
- All of which begs the question; which FPs might get cut? St Louis-R TBay (Heads), and Gaborik-R Min (Wolves) appear to be obvious candidates based on the quality of internal candidates, but what about; Hejduk-R Col? Sure he had a 5pt game, but that accounted for roughly 85% of his offense this year. Or what about Marty Turco? After years of stability in net, Marty looked more than a little past his prime - leading all active goaltenders for lowest GAA for much of the season. Or how about the oft-injured Brad Richards-C Dal? He went from indestructible point per game center in TBay to brittle third line center in Dallas faster than you can say 'Martin Straka'.
Look for some off-season jockeying by teams looking to patch holes till help can arrive from the farm (Patrick Kane), or in the form of an early first round pick that would let them take an obvious FP caliber guy.
- Here are two thought experiments for you;
A 37-38 Jagr returns from a year of exile in the KHL and signs with Pittsburgh for a $1M. Does he automatically become the first overall pick? (I say Yes). Do you feel the same way if he signs in Edmonton? (uh..No)
Gaborik is dropped by the Wolves, and we discover that Marc Crawford is the new coach in Minnesota and he is preaching from the bible of offensive hockey. Is Gaborik still a legit first round pick (or even an FP? - marginally Yes) or do his repeated trips to the hospital make a better bet for the later rounds? (I think he's due for a healthy season - isn't he?)
- Ten reasons Malkin is better than Crosby;
10. Malkin makes better commercials than Crosby does.
9. Pierre McGuire doesn't gush obscenely about the size of Malkin's thighs.
8. Malkin doesn't get hurt. Crosby does (high ankle sprain anyone?)
7. When Crosby gets hurt, Malkin's ppg actually goes up.
6. Crosby who was clearly too adolescent and untrustworthy to be allowed to live on his own, moved into Lemieux's basement. Malkin not only lives on his own but when he wants home cooking he just flies his parents over from Russia.
5. Mike Richards is the 'Crosby-stopper'. With 7 points in 3 games, there is no 'Malkin-stopper'
4. Crosby looks like the spitting image of Andy Sandberg from SNL, whereas Malkin most closely resembles Boris Karloff. One is a super cool iconic legend adored by millions, while the other is known mostly for 'dick in a box'.
3. Nobody goes to a Capitals vs Penguins game wearing a 'Malkin is a douche' shirt.
2. Malkin is 6'3" and just shy of 200lbs, has 'fear my wingspan' and resembles elegant swift skating pivots of the past like Belliveau and Lemieux. Crosby in contrast is like Martin St Louis on growth hormones, he's hobbit with muscles.
1. Malkin lead the league in scoring, and lead the Pens in; goals, assists and points. N'uff said.
2 comments:
The only change in my first round prediction, as of right now, would be Savard, Lecavalier + D.Sedin in... while Alfredsson Rafalski and Boyle go to the 2nd round. Also, if St.Louis gets dropped instead of traded, then I'd be hard pressed to not see him go in the 1st round.
Assuming Getzlaf, Datsyuk and Malkin are all pivots, having Savard and Lecavalier go in the first instead of Boyle/Rafalski would mean five centers and only one defensemen get taken in the first.
I agree on the possibility of St Louis over Alfreddson, but find it hard to believe that Daniel Sedin will get picked in the first - but I've been wrong lots before.
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