EHM The Blue Line

Flames lose to LA and Anaheim this weekend.

Call up Prust and put McCarty in the press box. Prust gave the Flames a lot of energy when he was up here. McCarty is slow and doesn't seem to have any interest in playing anymore (probably because of his financial problems). It doesn't help that he loses every fight he gets in and fires up the other team.

McLennan played well, despite giving up 4 goals. Most of the team didn't show up. Lombardi played well, lots of speed. Huselius played good as well. He's on pace to score 35 goals.

I have let Darcy Tucker and the TorontoSun get on my nerves... heres to vent. Tucker is a cheapshotter, who took down Sturm during the 3rd period off a leg sweep, and Chara in the first off another bad hit. After he hit Chara, Savard poked him with his stick and Tucker tossed Savard to the ice. Mara jumped outta the bench and started beating the living **** out of Tucker and instead of Tucker saying something like, "Ya, he beat on me pretty good."

He starts to complain, "I was out for so long I didn't know what was going on"

TorontoSun.com says Savard is a superpest, why? Sounds like they are very bitter about losing a game.

Mara had the only sensible thing to say, "What did we instigate? "Mara said. "He went after our captain and (cross checked) our best player. We play these guys eight times a year and we can not allow those things to happen."

Yet Tucker is CONVINCED that Mara hates him and wants to fight again, this time Tucker is SURE he'll be ready.
"Mara will have his chance if he wants it early in the next game. He can have his chance if I'm rested. If he thinks he's going to try to fight battles like that, he can have his opportunity next time he comes in early in the game."


Just my two sence of that matter, Tuckers a jerk and hes paid to be a jerk, I have no problem with that. But when he acts like a complete idiot OFF the ice, something is wrong with him. Hes probably venting getting his ___ handed to him.

Let the baby have his bottle I say. Mara is too smart to get into a stupid widdling contest off the ice. Maybe Tucker will have a bad game because he's more preoccupied with fighting Mara than scoring goals.

There is a part of me that loves this though. Just like the old days ... almost.

Where's P.J. Stock when we need him?

Just to get you psyched up for tonights game.

Seeing Tucker get dropped gave me the biggest smile.

Huge win for Anaheim tonight in Edmonton (aka Pronger's First Game Back) with a goal with 16 seconds left to tie and then a quick clincher in OT. It was like Edmonton played the etire third period not to lose up by only a goal playing like it was 2003 and they were up 3 or something...

BTW Rolosson is my new least favorite goaltender to watch, taking over for Eddie Belfour who last held the title with his tirades to the refs and trying to break guys ankles with his stick in front of the net. Listen Rolly (such a fitting name for his playing 'style' too) if you play four feet above your crease and then tip over and roll around on your bakc like a turtle that has been flipped over in the desert you're not going to get any call except diving so here's an idea... play goal instead of playing dead hoping to "draw" a call. It's pathetic. Not quite as pathetic as you thinking you can actually play the puck without turning it over every time behind the net... but still pretty pathetic.

Diving calls count in the pool right? Cause all 3 of me goalies needed serious help last night.

I watched the last half of the first period and all of the second in last night's Chicago game on Five. I watched bits of the programme for the Tampa-Montreal game two weeks back and a significant chunk of last week's Caps game. Starting to get back into it, thanks to the College Football season coming to an end, and my love of NHL 07. I saw about a month back that the Wild had made an amazing start, and I tried to keep up with that. Sure enough, as soon as we got the net back and I was able to watch the highlights on NHL.com, they start sliding a bit. Still, I saw the highlights of the amazing 7-6 game over Nashville

Was amazed to see that the Islanders were 2nd in their division as of last night, and pleased to see that the Penguins have made a solid start. Worried about what Nick Halling said about the Penguins potentially moving from Pittsburgh though?

I'll try to keep an eye on the sport again this year after following it pretty much solidly to the end last season. There is something pleasingly soporific about ice hockey, the swish of the skates, the rattling of the puck and the several Heinekens inside me.

EDIT: oh, and pleased to see that the Hawks won last night. I was cheering them on before I fell asleep.

Krieger99 wrote:Call up Prust and put McCarty in the press box. Prust gave the Flames a lot of energy when he was up here. McCarty is slow and doesn't seem to have any interest in playing anymore (probably because of his financial problems). It doesn't help that he loses every fight he gets in and fires up the other team.

I would think that D-Mac's money troubles would inspire him to play his best on account of he wants/NEEDS to get re-signed. I personally like D-Mac quite a lot. I don't expect him to score goals or do anything like that but he does bring tenacity--being willing to get the rubbish kicked out of you is kind of like being willing to block shots with your face (like Stephane Yelle). I don't imagine that D-Mac thinks he's going to win a fight against Georges Laraque, but the fact that he's willing to try, I suspect, fires up the Flames bench as much as it does the opponent's. I think that Prust brought out the best in McCarty, as that's the kind of role that Prust is likely to fill down the road. McCarty wanted to show him how it's done and set a good example for the kid.

If anyone should be in the press box it's Freezin' Friesen. I haven't seen him use his speed consistently, he STILL hasn't scored...1.6 million is a lot to pay for a guy that's been about as useful as a bag of pucks so far. I hung my head at that signing and I still do--Sutter said he suspected Friesen just had an off year the previous season (he only scored FOUR goals) and would pick it back up with the Flames. I suspect Sutter feels a little too much loyalty to guys who have played for him in the past.

Rally Helmets Strike Again!

Bruins win 4-3 in a shootout with the Lightning.

Thundercleese wrote:I hung my head at that signing and I still do--Sutter said he suspected Friesen just had an off year the previous season (he only scored FOUR goals) and would pick it back up with the Flames. I suspect Sutter feels a little too much loyalty to guys who have played for him in the past.

That has always been one chink in the Sutter Family armor actually... Friesen is one of those players that will drive you nuts though, I agree. Guys like Simon and McCarty will always have a place on a Sutter team as they are "classic Sutter guys" however the "New NHL" has made those players with more grit, determination and work ethic than skills a liability at many times.

I think as long as players like McCarty bring their intensity and effort they'll have a place in the NHL. As much as D-Mac doesn't have a point to speak of, if he wasn't giving maximum effort he'd be sitting out. Sutter isn't afraid to keep players out of the lineup if they haven't earned the spot (remember that brutal trade to get Sauve out of town and we got Mike Leclerc in return) and I would expect the same from Playfair. The thing that drives me batty about Friesen is it really doesn't seem like he's giving that extra effort that D-Mac does. McCarty is always out there hitting, fighting, grinding along the boards, trying to generate whatever he can. Friesen is almost invisible most nights.

Minstrel must be happy, or well, atleast somewhat positively surprised how hawks are playing as of late. Especially Ruutu is showing signs of awakening, Khabibulin has done it already, and even Salmelainen is getting the grip of the game.

Gah the Wild defeated again...

I'm enjoying seeing Buffalo play at the moment, nice jerseys, good enthusiastic crowds and some exciting games.

Buffalo fans are only enthusiastic because this is the closest thing they have ever had in a sport to a championship team.

The Bills are known failures (4 straight superbowl losses) and the Sabres lost to the Stars in the finals a few years back.

They are hoping to actually win something for once.

Four straight Superbowls is still pretty impressive AND awfully close to a championship.

Minnesota is coming back to earth, did you really expect them to sustain their momentum? Maybe they can pull it together if Maid Marian stays healthy for more than ten minutes a season.

Anyone catch the Minnesota vs Detroit game last night? Dan Cleary scored a goal and as he was shooting the puck he got a high stick to the mouth, knocking out 2 teeth. He played the rest of the game. Of course, the FSN guys just couldn't help themselves as they had to interview him after the game and we got to hear his new speech impediment. You could tell he was sort of embarrassed, he said something like "Oh jeez listen to me, I can hardly even talk right"

darn, i can't see any NHL action Usually i watch the highlights on nhl.com, but for some days, firefox just crashes when i try to watch highlights I didn't change anything on my computer's configuration, so i really wonder why it crashes... Any help/suggestion?

Shadd666 wrote:darn, i can't see any NHL action Usually i watch the highlights on nhl.com, but for some days, firefox just crashes when i try to watch highlights I didn't change anything on my computer's configuration, so i really wonder why it crashes... Any help/suggestion?

Shadd: try it again with Internet Explorer!!!

U know that, living in Spain, I have to grab every opportunity to see some hockey action, and the highlights from NHL.com are a MUST!!!! LOL!!!

I never had problems with IE in the NHL highlights....also it helps to have the Windows Media Player updated (if I recall right it should be nº 11 right now...).

Greets my fellow neighbour

inSTAALed wrote:The Bills are known failures (4 straight superbowl losses)

Which reminds me of the joke Q: "What does Bills stand for?" A: "Boy I Love Losing Superbowls"

I have to say that I'm not planning on watching any more Hawks games as no, I'm not pleased with the team in the slightest, I don't care that they've won all their games as they are all witht he exception of Dallas teams they should beat, they are in a very easy stretch of the schedule especially with how Minnesota has been struggling. However the team has apparently already taken to the "play more offensively" approach to heart because they've stopped caring about doing the little things that they were excelling at under Yawney.

I watched yesterday's game and it was absolutely pathetic no matter the final score. At one point FIVE times in a row they failed to clear the puck and/or get the puck deep enough to make a line change with really weak clearing attempts failing to get the puck out of the zone or just drive the puck down, then at the end of that series defensemen that has been out there stuck in their defensive zone joined the rush instead of going for a change getting stuck out again when there were five chances he had to change as he was within feet of the bench. And this was the third pairing!

It is also absolutely unexcusable that the team for some reason fields a first line that doesn't feature Tuomo Ruutu! Their "scoring line" all last night? Jeff Hamilton who is a career AHLer and made the team after coming to camp on a tryout, centered by Smolinski with Tony Samaleinen on the other wing. I don't care that Hamilton scored a hattrick (mostly on soft goals) he shouldn't be featured on the first line and either should Salmaleinen. Just because he has speed does not mean he has offensive ability... yes he's fast but he's shown to not have any touch or finish or ability to beat NHL defenders. This was something Yawney quickly realized and is now one of the supposed reasons he was let go, for not giving Salmaleinen more playing time since he's fast. And now somehow he and a career minor leaguer are both ahead of Ruutu on the depth chart??? What a joke.

This team will be absolutely embarrassed against a real NHL team without major injuries and/or amidst a major slump. I didn't care they were losing before because the effort was there and they were playing hard and smart now I don't care that they are winning because they have totally lost any sense of hockey fundamentals and are making a billion mistakes and bad decisions that good team with capitalize on 9 times out of 10.

flea wrote:

Shadd666 wrote:darn, i can't see any NHL action Usually i watch the highlights on nhl.com, but for some days, firefox just crashes when i try to watch highlights I didn't change anything on my computer's configuration, so i really wonder why it crashes... Any help/suggestion?

Shadd: try it again with Internet Explorer!!!

U know that, living in Spain, I have to grab every opportunity to see some hockey action, and the highlights from NHL.com are a MUST!!!! LOL!!!

I never had problems with IE in the NHL highlights....also it helps to have the Windows Media Player updated (if I recall right it should be nº 11 right now...).

Greets my fellow neighbour

You can watch the full NHL games on Google Video.

Minstrel wrote:

inSTAALed wrote:The Bills are known failures (4 straight superbowl losses)

Which reminds me of the joke Q: "What does Bills stand for?" A: "Boy I Love Losing Superbowls"

Hohoho, now thats a good one!!!!! Didnt know that one and I had a big laugh when I saw it

Minty, maybe they're trying to shop one or both of the guys you mention. For a little while there the Flames were giving Roman Hamrlik tons of ice time because apparently he was on the way to Philadelphia. As it turned out, the Flames started to win again and Hamrlik played so well given the extra ice time (and motivation, he doesn't want to be traded) that it doesn't look like he's going anywhere. Not that the same thing will happen with the 'Hawks but that could be why guys who are inferior to Ruutu are playing on lines above him.

Or, it could be because Tallon, Pulford, Wirtz and Savard are right and Hamilton and Salmelainen are the next coming of Gretzky-Kurri...now if the Hawks only had Tikkanen. Hey Minty, I hear he is available.

Oh man am I in trouble again...

I'm too numb to feel your barbs badad And I of course think the reason that Wirtzford wants to see those two guys on the first line wing is they work hard have a low enough talent level that they're just happy to have a job and so they can be kept around long term for minimum salaries... don't ever forget that Wirtz's common response to any player salary questions is that "Well I think they should pay us for the honor actually". I'm sure they'd love to give both Hamiliton and Salmy two year extensions at say $500,000 and say to themseles they have their first line wingers set for the next two years for a million total.