Elliotte Friedman 31 thoughts

[dash]

Thomas' White House snub, All-Star Game + 30 Thoughts | Hockey | CBC Sports

19. There are a few reports the Oilers are trying to get Nashville to offer either blue-liner Ryan Ellis or Jon Blum/a first-rounder for Hemsky. For what it's worth, one source (not Poile) said Monday that the Predators are not interested.

It's funny to read how much Oilers fans are ragging on Hemsky and then in the next breath say they should be able to land a great package for him. That wonky shoulder of his might be able to get a 2nd round pick, but that's about it.

 

[KennyBanyeah]

Crosby's recovery plight + 30 Thoughts | Hockey | CBC Sports

7. Years ago, Ottawa was in Vancouver and a few of the players decided to go on a bike ride. They were being pretty competitive and didn't realize they'd lost someone -- Anton Volchenkov. This was early in his career, when Volchenkov spoke almost zero English and Petr Schastlivy was the only guy he could talk to. Volchenkov found a park bench on the route they took and waited until the others doubled back to find him. It took about two hours.

9. Asked Chara if he could hit 108 miles per hour (or even Al Iafrate's previous record 105) with a wooden stick. He said he didn't know. Maybe, at next year's event, they could find a way to let him try it. Would be interesting to see.

That WOULD be cool.

 

[Comeds]

Crosby's recovery plight + 30 Thoughts | Hockey | CBC Sports


9. Asked Chara if he could hit 108 miles per hour (or even Al Iafrate's previous record 105) with a wooden stick. He said he didn't know. Maybe, at next year's event, they could find a way to let him try it. Would be interesting to see.

Is there any guess to how much velocity a composite stick gives over a wood one? If its just a few miles is it worth it? Both in terms of cost and untimely breakings.

Not that I ever see the players going back.

 

[sabresfaninthesouth]

I wonder if it would cost more to get a single wooden stick made that's long enough for Chara than what it costs for one of his composites.

Can't imagine there's anyone making them that long on a regular basis.

 

[puckhead]

Predators not in a bind with Suter + 30 Thoughts | Hockey | CBC Sports

Does McGrattan feel that his job contributed to his problem? "When I was in the treatment centre, I was the only athlete in there. [There were] principals, doctors, lawyers, teachers -- some people that did construction. So, alcohol doesn't just affect enforcers in hockey. It affects everybody at every age. I met some people in there who were 60, some people were 18 ... I think it's unfair to put that on guys just because of what they did in the sport. Had I not even played hockey, chances are from what I learned and where I was ... had I not even touched the ice once in my life I probably would have been in the same boat that I was. Had I been a 50-goal scorer, I probably would have been in the same boat, so I don't think it matters if I would've fought once or not. So that's where I kind of stand on that issue."

 

[dash]

Preds are 27th in the league as far as teams spending to the cap are concerned. Man, that's getting your money's worth.

 

[mattola]

Preds are 27th in the league as far as teams spending to the cap are concerned. Man, that's getting your money's worth.

every freaking year....

 

[puckhead]

every freaking year....

that changes this summer though.

 

[puckhead]

Nash trade-related rumours won't quit + 30 Thoughts | Hockey | CBC Sports

interesting take on Kane / Winnipeg rumours


4. Apparently, no GM is burning up the phone lines more than George McPhee. The Capitals face Canadian-franchise-level pressure to succeed.

10. Leafs and Penguins played back-to-back on January 31 and February 1. Upon landing in Toronto after the first one, the Pittsburgh plane got the full-body cavity search -- a rarity in the NHL. Prediction: next time Toronto visits Western Pennsylvania, the team's hotel is "accidentally" made public.

19. Tomas Holmstrom used to make the Red Wings laugh when saying he was stuck in Scotty Bowman's "dogyard," and they joked that he was the one European whose English got worse the longer he stayed. It's clear they admired his strength in dealing with the successful, but tough, coach. Bowman would demand Holmstrom skate faster in practice, with the Swede yelling back, "I'm going as fast as I can." He reached 1,000 games the hard way, for sure.

23. One source thought Vancouver might be a landing spot for Jeff Carter, because there was a time the Canucks really liked him. There was a time a couple of years ago (and I STRESS we're not talking anything recent) Vancouver and Philadelphia discussed a Jeff Carter/Ryan Kesler deal. Carter's new contract kiboshed that, because it doesn't fit into the Canucks' cap structure.

 

[puckhead]

Nash may wish to broaden trade list | Hockey | CBC Sports

6. I'll admit to a man-crush with Cody Hodgson's game, so I'm not the best person to properly evaluate the Vancouver/Buffalo trade. That, and I haven't seen a ton of Zack Kassian. But contacted several NHL types to ask their thoughts, I was amazed by the wildly divergent opinion. There was no consensus. For everyone who liked Hodgson, there was someone who questioned whether he really is a top-six forward. For everyone who said that Kassian's got Milan Lucic written all over him, there was someone who said he's not in Lucic's league. It's going to be fascinating to see how this turns out.

7. There was real surprise Buffalo dealt Kassian. Not so much for Hodgson -- no room for him to play centre in Vancouver's lineup. While Canucks GM Mike Gillis wouldn't confirm Hodgson asked for a trade, several other teams were under the impression he had done so -- recently. Hodgson sounded shocked in his interviews, though.

19. Before landing Jeff Carter from Columbus, the Kings did some research into their offensive trouble. As of Tuesday, for example, if you ranked each team's leading scorer from No. 1 (Evgeni Malkin, 78 points) to No. 30 (Nash, 43 points), Anze Kopitar of the Kings is tied for 20th among leading point-getters. He looked awesome at the start of the season, too. Justin Williams ranks 26th among second-ranked scorers and Brown is tied for 25th among those in third.

20. Another thing the Kings determined was they were among the lowest-scoring teams in what Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock likes to call the "greasy areas," ie. in front of the net. Dustin Penner gets most of the blame, but it's a team-wide issue.

22. Lots of abuse heaped on the Edmonton Oilers and Carolina Hurricanes for the Tuomo Ruutu (four Years, $19 million US) and Ales Hemsky (two years, $10 million US) contracts. In a vacuum, they don't make sense, but there is a legitimate method to what seems like madness. If those players leave, they must be replaced and both teams have trouble attracting free agents. The Oilers, for example, threw $60 million US at Marian Hossa in 2008, only to watch him accept 11 per cent of that figure to play one year in Detroit.

24. For all this stuff about how Mikhail Grabovski's stick company has screwed up his pattern, I heard last week he's tried 145 different ones this year and can't find any he likes.

28. McPhee had an interesting line about his players: "The same guys who played hard for Bruce [Boudreau] are playing hard for Dale [Hunter]."

 

[jstewismybastardson]

7. There was real surprise Buffalo dealt Kassian. Not so much for Hodgson -- no room for him to play centre in Vancouver's lineup. While Canucks GM Mike Gillis wouldn't confirm Hodgson asked for a trade, several other teams were under the impression he had done so -- recently. Hodgson sounded shocked in his interviews, though.

the whole ... BUT HE WAS SHOCKED!!! idea is really a red herring

Im sure it was shocking to him even though he asked for a trade ... he's changing teams ... changing cities ... just like that ... he or his dad or his agent may have been the guy to ask for it but it still must be a surprise that it actually happens when it does

especially when you find out from a teammate youre walking down the street with and he shows you his iphone

from the sounds of it the canucks had a real lively and fun team practice yesterday ... the team was horsing around playing shinny and put that hockey tape C on Cohos jersey ... the blue team ended up winning the faux stanley cup and they posed for a picture at centre ice ... a great day for the team

and then Coho finds out he's traded

no surprise he was shocked ... even if he asked for it

 

[puckhead]

from the sounds of it the canucks had a real lively and fun team practice yesterday ... the team was horsing around playing shinny and put that hockey tape C on Cohos jersey ... the blue team ended up winning the faux stanley cup and they posed for a picture at centre ice ... a great day for the team

what he didn't see was that Gillis also taped a 'YA' on the back

 

[mattola]

Grabovski's deal fair for both sides + 30 Thoughts | Hockey | CBC Sports

lots of Hodgson Talk

Canucks wanted Sutter from Hurricanes
Toronto made an offer
Canucks wanted Carlson from Washington
Dallas wanted Hodgson for Ott (we knew this)
Florida also was in the mix (wonder who there)

 

[jstewismybastardson]

Grabovski's deal fair for both sides + 30 Thoughts | Hockey | CBC Sports

lots of Hodgson Talk

Canucks wanted Sutter from Hurricanes
Toronto made an offer
Canucks wanted Carlson from Washington
Dallas wanted Hodgson for Ott (we knew this)
Florida also was in the mix (wonder who there)

I know you guys dont agree but I have a real distaste with the way Hodgson and his camp handled all this. Both Friedman and kelly hrudey brought it up saturday night ... whats wrong with biding your time and taking less ice time (like the Sedins and Kesler did in their first couple of years and like Schneider has for the past 2 years) ... especially when your team is a legit cup contender ... his play might not have shown it (although his January Rookie of the month didnt parlay into a very good February) but in essence he quit on the canucks

he acted out of self interest asking for a trade ... I feel dumb for ever thinking he could become of trevor linden calibre for this franchise

 

[mooger_35]

I know you guys dont agree but I have a real distaste with the way Hodgson and his camp handled all this. Both Friedman and kelly hrudey brought it up saturday night ... whats wrong with biding your time and taking less ice time (like the Sedins and Kesler did in their first couple of years and like Schneider has for the past 2 years) ... especially when your team is a legit cup contender ... his play might not have shown it (although his January Rookie of the month didnt parlay into a very good February) but in essence he quit on the canucks

he acted out of self interest asking for a trade ... I feel dumb for ever thinking he could become of trevor linden calibre for this franchise

I'm with you there. And have the balls to just admit the fact you asked for a deal.

I'll root for the kid, but this has soured me on him a bit.

 

[puckhead]

I know you guys dont agree but I have a real distaste with the way Hodgson and his camp handled all this. Both Friedman and kelly hrudey brought it up saturday night ... whats wrong with biding your time and taking less ice time (like the Sedins and Kesler did in their first couple of years and like Schneider has for the past 2 years) ... especially when your team is a legit cup contender ... his play might not have shown it (although his January Rookie of the month didnt parlay into a very good February) but in essence he quit on the canucks

he acted out of self interest asking for a trade ... I feel dumb for ever thinking he could become of trevor linden calibre for this franchise

I saw the play on the ice, and the lack of bitching publicly.
I also saw that AV was in the wrong the diagnosis of the back injury. So yeah, going into this I was giving Camp CoHo the benefit of the doubt. (hockey wise, I absolutely see the value in kassian, and how he's a better fit for the team now and in the future)

But yeah, I did notice that it came out that "his goals and the team's goals weren't in alignment".
what the fuck does that even mean? You are here to win. end of story.
in hindsight, he hadn't even played a full season and got too big for his britches.
I can see his point that there was no room in the foreseeable future as a top 2 centre.
but jeez, man... pay your fuckin' dues.

 

[dash]

I wonder how much of this was orchestrated by CoHo as much as 'Team CoHo'. Ultimately, Cody has to tell the people around him to "cease and desist", but he doesn't strike me as that kind of guy (more laid back). As Friedman said on Saturday night, it sounds like Canucks mgmt had had enough and followed through on the trade.

 

[filosofy29]

Grabovski's deal fair for both sides + 30 Thoughts | Hockey | CBC Sports

lots of Hodgson Talk

Canucks wanted Sutter from Hurricanes
Toronto made an offer
Canucks wanted Carlson from Washington
Dallas wanted Hodgson for Ott (we knew this)
Florida also was in the mix (wonder who there)

Crazy stuff coming out. If I were a Canucks fan, I think I'd want Ott. Not saying it's the "best" or "right" choice, but it would have been my preference. I think Kassian is going to be better and more beneficial for Vancouver in the long run. However, I can imagine a fanbase that is as rabid as Vancouvers is in dire need of a Stanley Cup. I think Ott gives them a better chance this year (and possibly next year) at a Stanley Cup than Kassian does. I had a sneaking suspicion that CoHo wanted out to get more playing time. Why leave a very strong SC Contender?

What say you Vancouverites?

Kassian is much better long term, but what happens if you don't win the Cup either of the next 2 years.

Ott is the better short term gain, but you sacrafice having a player of Kassian's ilk for the forseeable future.

(assuming all the offers above were true or not far off from being true.....and obviously if Vancouver wins the Cup in the next two years this point is moot.....but hypothetically speaking)

 

[jstewismybastardson]

I wonder how much of this was orchestrated by CoHo as much as 'Team CoHo'. Ultimately, Cody has to tell the people around him to "cease and desist", but he doesn't strike me as that kind of guy (more laid back). As Friedman said on Saturday night, it sounds like Canucks mgmt had had enough and followed through on the trade.

considering he is working on agent #3 already in his young career, id say "Team Coho" president and ceo is Pops Hodgson

like i said in the saturday thread ... youre an adult now Cody!

 

[jstewismybastardson]

Crazy stuff coming out. If I were a Canucks fan, I think I'd want Ott. Not saying it's the "best" or "right" choice, but it would have been my preference. I think Kassian is going to be better and more beneficial for Vancouver in the long run. However, I can imagine a fanbase that is as rabid as Vancouvers is in dire need of a Stanley Cup. I think Ott gives them a better chance this year (and possibly next year) at a Stanley Cup than Kassian does.

What say you Vancouverites?

Kassian is much better long term, but what happens if you don't win the Cup either of the next 2 years.

Ott is the better short term gain, but you sacrafice having a player of Kassian's ilk for the forseeable future.

(assuming all the offers above were true or not far off from being true)

because Kassian is so raw, we all thought when the trade went down ... what the fuck does this do for the canucks this year ???

im gonna just sit back and watch how this plays out ... because we might have an answer coming sooner than later ... because Kassian has replaced Mason Raymond on the second line ... already!!! (and thank god for that!!!)