EHM The Blue Line

If Stepan has not been in the conversation for Selke before, he will not win it. He may get nomination but he won't win. I really could not say who is in on this one this year.


Yeah Stamkos...without him, that little wee guy would not do what he does. Would get checked to death. I know he will not win it, just saying he should. Makes everyone around him better AND takes away all the checking from the other lines.

Probably bloody Ovenchicken...or Price. I HATE GIVING IT TO GOALIES>

Why? Price was clearly the reasons the Habs are where they were now, he totally deserves it. He was insane this year! I just hope that Ovy doesn't win it and I would be really happy with Stamkos too.

Best goalie gets best goalie period. Well recognized with that. I agree he was insane, but so were alot of other guys who deserve to be recognized. The midget in Tampa, Stamkos is Tampa, Weber, Josi, Tarasenko, Ovenchicken,Tavares, Backstrom,Kessel,Bozak Kadri, Phaneuf, Lupul Hudler, Daniel and Henrik (yep look where they ended up in scoring), BTW--Stamkos was 2nd in league in goals....terrible player, god I hate to say it...Rick Nash, and a few non playoff guys---Benn, Voracek, Giroux, Crosby...yada yada.

These guys are the elite of the league this year, and deserve to be rewarded. Sure Carey was freaking amazing, and probably will win the trophy. He does stand out....but remember Jose Theodore. LOL.

batdad - I know Stepan won't win as i explained in the post after, he won't get nominated either, won't even be in the discussion... That is what frustrates me, and it's not only Stepan... There are alot of great defensive forwards in this league that should be in the discussion for Selke but they never are, because it's a popularity award... They just look at Stepans faceoff% and write him off, which is moronic...

I really don't think Stamkos is even top-10 for Hart this season, he's a great player but he's had a good, not a great year and he's been outperformed in his own team... If they go by the letter of what Hart means then Dubnyk would be the clear winner for me... Hahaha "Kessel, Bozak Kadri, Phaneuf, Lupul" You can be funny when you want to

Actually all those Leafs are pretty darn good..... at getting 2 coaches and a gm fired in only one season

I actually think that Phaneuf and Kessel are still really really good players, they just can't deal with the farce that is Toronto media, for everyones sake i hope they both get traded this summer...

Peter_Doherty wrote:I actually think that Phaneuf and Kessel are still really really good players, they just can't deal with the farce that is Toronto media, for everyones sake i hope they both get traded this summer...

I think both will be good in the right situations and agree that they need to get out of TO this summer.

The problem with Phaneuf is that his play plateaued after the 07-08 season with the Flames. For his first 3 years, he was a 2nd pairing D-Man and did well. He also threw a lot more checks and shot the puck a lot. After he signed his mega extension and thrust into a top pairing, he slipped and could never get back to his first 3 years in Calgary. As many have said, Dion was a little overrated because of his juniors performance and physical game. He's really only a 2nd pairing defenseman right now and could be a very good one in the right environment. He's also never been much of a leader and maybe being one of the guys instead of the guy will put some confidence back in his game.

As for Kessel, he's a PPG winger who had an off-year. Again, he shouldn't be the star of the team and in a team where he'd be insulated better, I'd have him on my team. There are concerns with the contract, fitness, determination, etc etc. Given that people think he's uncoachable and his off year, I'd take a gamble on him IF the price wasn't high and if the Leafs ate some salary. He's 26-27 which is still fairly young, but worth a gamble at the right price

My picks:

Hart - Ovi
Vezina - Price
Adams - Hartley
Selke - Palat
Norris - Weber
Calder - Gaudreau

MontySteelers wrote:Started an EHM TBL league for the bracket challenge on NHL.com to pick the results of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Go to bracketchallenge.nhl.com and signup, if you already use Gamecenter Live you will already have a username for Nhl.com, just search for the league and lets see who wins!

Name of League: EHM The Blue Line
Password: EHMTBL

Still time to join and make your picks!

Prowl - I agree with what you are saying, only thing is that i think Dion can be a 1st-pairing guy, just not THE #1 guy on the team, as a #2 i think he would grow and find his Flames play again, that's what i think atleast... And as you say, Kessel is a scoring machine with a bad year, he will bounce back.. Put him with a real C and he will score 40+.

Chialerri fired in Boston. Claude next maybe?

DIon Phaneuf is not a #1 pairing defenseman. He has failed epically at that for how many years on 2 different teams. He should be playing 20 min per night, should NOT be on your first PP, and should NOT have to play against the other teams best. Unfortunately he is paid as a #1 dman because 2 teams think he is capable of becoming one. He is not. Does not have the hockey sense nor the skating and mobility to be that. He is only #1 pair dman on a weak team and that is all he will ever be.

Yes Philou...next is Julien. Cam is finally able to put his stamp on the team and now missing the playoffs gives him that oppurtunity.

Well Julien and the Bruins had a bad year. Anyone can have one bad year. I think Julien will have next year to prove himself that the Bruins are back. As the team has been pretty much the same these past few years, it's either the coaches fault or the players mental side (or both) why they didn't manage this year.

As for our beloved Dion! On a good/average NHL team #1 D-man, not a chance. #1 powerplay pair guy maybe!? But year after year I see more awesome Offsensive D-men coming to the league. Dion has not a chance against rookies like Klingberg when it comes to PP.
The only great defensive aspect of his game is his murderous hitting! And sometimes not, as they go over the top and being dirty.

To be a #1 guy in a team, you have the one of the best in the league at something or good at everthing. Dion is not.. well maybe Hitting, but that will get you so far.

Agreed, he's a #2 guy imo...

No he is 3 or 4. Basically he is an even more expensive Kevin Bieksa with a harder shot.

And Captain for a team is as wrong as Ovechkin for Capitals IMO. "Best" player on the team doesn't mean best captain for the team. Leafs could as good put Kessel as captain.

Yeah, he does not seem like a captain, but then again it's hard to judge a player that has played the last years in the Michel Goulet that is Toronto... He could really use to get to a smaller market, get rid of that ridiculous media pressure, if that happens i think he will become a good D-man again...

Fluff the media pressure! For seeing Phaneuf playing often against the Habs (I'm sure you do vs NY too) he's a hot temper, stupid guy who listen to his emotions 90% of the time. He is not captain material and he is part of the reason Toronto is pants. You can't have a captain that can't control himself! What kind of example it gives to your teammates and the prospects?! I'm sure Phaneuf attitude cause problems in the team, probably not everyone likes to have a captain that acts like this.


And Batdad, Julien isn't that bad. I think he is a good coach and it's not really his fault that the Bruins missed the playoffs. Chialerri was mostly the worse since he kinda mismanaged the space cap of the team. Claude might still lose his job but it's far from been his fault IMO.

Kessel is not exactly captain material either. Whiny little bugger. In fact I am not sure the Loafs have captain material anywhere except in the young guys they have abused. Maybe JVR.

Julien is a dufus.

I don't like him at all but yeah, not that bad.

Tortorella with a different accent.

Anyway...time for us to have a playoff thread? LOL

Julien is a really good coach when he's got the right players to place his type of hockey. Unfortunately, he's very rigid doesn't have much flexibility or adaptability. He gives way too much ice time to his 4th line guys and he squashes offensively talented youngsters. He always wants to play his defensive game and when that's not working against an opponent, he doesn't seem to be able to adjust and change his tactics. Also, he can't get a power play to work. It's been very frustrating as a Bruins fan. I know Neely has said that he wants to let whoever they place as the new GM decide on the coach (Julien or someone else) but Julien really needs to go. The players have tuned him out. They need a change.

Basically Julien eqauls Vigneault. Except +1 Cup.

OILERS WIN THE DRAFT LOTTERY. LOL...>Connor McDavid. Unreal

NO. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. This is....omg. Ri-di-cu-lous. Freaking pants team going to ruin the kid AGAIN. I can't facepalm enough to express my frustration.