Official NHL 2005-2006 Season Thread

[Mal Brossard]

Ron Francis can now be added to the retired list as well.

Let's see, Captains...

Anaheim-- Will Scott Niedermayer take it with Steve Rucchin being off to the Rangers?  Selanne is another possibility.
Atlanta-- Will it go to DeVries, Holik, or Mellanby?  And does anyone really care?
Boston-- Was Thornton, will be Thornton.
Buffalo-- Either Drury, Dumont, or Briere.  All three held the C last season.  Jay McKee should be a possibility as well.
Calgary-- Iginla, no question.  He is as close as we will ever see to another Cam Neely-- a guy who would have been captain on any other team except the Bruins, where he was behind Ray Bourque.
Carolina-- Rod Brind'Amour was given the captaincy.
Chicago-- Had been Zhamnov, now a Bruin.  Does it go to Daze or Todd Simpson, former CGY captain?
Colorado-- Sakic, obviously.
Columbus-- Luke Richardson had it last.  Is Rick Nash ready for it?
Dallas-- Modano will keep it, I'm certain.
Detroit-- Yzerman, guaranteed.
Edmonton-- Peca?  Smyth?  Pronger?  Or does Jason Smith keep it?
Florida-- Olli Jokinen is one of the few bright spots on this team, and should be keeping the C this year.
Los Angeles-- Matthias Norstrom, no doubt.
Minnesota-- Another "captain by committee" team.  Will they have just one?
Montreal-- Should be Koivu again.  I don't see anyone stepping in to change that.
Nashville-- Greg Johnson had it, but Paul Kariya could just as easily have it given to him.
New Jersey-- With Stevens and Niedermayer gone, the captaincy should fall into the lap of John Madden or Jeff Friesen.
NY Islanders-- Will Yashin take it with Peca gone?  Satan and Zhitnik are also possibilities.
NY Rangers-- With Messier and Leetch gone, does it go to Jagr, the Penguins former captain and general malcontent?  Former Anaheim captain Steve Rucchin is another possibility.
Ottawa-- Daniel Alfredsson, obviously.
Philadelphia-- Does Primeau still have the C?  There are quite a few who could possibly wear it in Primeau, Desjardins, Hatcher, Rathje, and not Brashear.
Phoenix-- Shane Doan should be keeping it.  Hull, O'Donnell, and Ricci are also VERY outside possibilities.
Pittsburgh-- You can't not give your player/owner the position of captain too.  Obviously Lemieux.
St. Louis-- Who takes it now with Pronger and MacInnis out?  Weight?  Tkachuk?  Brewer?  Reed Low? 
San Jose-- Probably will be kept by Marleau, with McCauley also being a possibility.
Tampa Bay-- Is Andreychuk still playing?  If not, then Lecavalier takes back the C.
Toronto-- Sundin.  No European captain has ever led a team to a Cup win.
Vancouver-- Naslund.  See above.
Washington-- Steve Konowalchuk last held it.  Now, it most likely goes to Brendan Witt.

[sandman]

sami kapanen is out for 10-12 weeks. he needs shoulder surgery. huge loss for the flyers. he's a big part of their team.

they signed savage for some depth up front.

not a good sign they're having all of these injuries. but at least it's early in the year. better for them to miss games in october than in march-may when teams need to build momentum. 

[KeVoRkIaN]

Primeau is still captain of the Flyers

[Mal Brossard]

We're less than a week away!

CAPTAINS UPDATE:

Anaheim:  Still haven't heard anything.  Anyone?
Atlanta: Scott Mellanby
Boston: Joe Thornton
Buffalo:  Chris Drury AND Daniel Briere
Calgary: Jarome Iginla
Carolina: Rod Brind'Amour
Chicago: Also unknown.  Anyone know?
Colorado: Joe Sakic
Columbus: Luke Richardson
Dallas: Mike Modano
Detroit: Steve Yzerman
Edmonton: Jason Smith
Florida: Olli Jokinen
Minnesota: Still no word on their Captain.  Who knows?
Montreal: Saku Koivu
Nashville: Greg Johnson
New Jersey: Still no word on who's taking over.  Anyone?
NY Islanders: Alexei Yashin
NY Rangers: Jagr was offered it, turned it down.  Steve Rucchin should be named Captain this week.
Ottawa: Daniel Alfredsson
Philadelphia: Keith Primeau
Phoenix: Shane Doan
Pittsburgh: Mario Lemieux
San Jose: Patrick Marleau
St. Louis: Dallas Drake
Tampa Bay: Dave Andreychuk
Toronto: Mats Sundin
Vancouver: Markus Naslund
Washington: Also, no word yet.  Anyone?

So Washington, NY Rangers, New Jersey, Minnesota, Chicago, and Anaheim still don't officially have a captain.

Washington, I'm thinking Brendan Witt.  Chicago will be either Eric Daze or Kyle Calder.  Minnesota could be almost anyone.  New Jersey will likely be John Madden (provided the team gets under the salary cap).  Rangers are almost certainly going with Steve Rucchin.

We're less than a week away!

[Rob]

Buffalo:? Chris Drury AND Daniel Briere

Two captains?  I didn't even know you could do that.

[Mal Brossard]

I think you can have up to 3 players wearing any combination of C's and A's.  At the very least, I know my old high school team had 2 wearing a C and 1 wearing an A last year.

Either that, or they'll just switch the two back and forth on a regular basis.

[sandman]

i'm getting really psyched. 4 days to go!

forsberg is expected to make his debut in a flyers uniform tonight. it's gonna be important for him to get some time in playing with gagne and carter.

i've seen a couple flyers games and gagne looks like an all star even without forsberg on his line. he's never truly delivered and lived up to his potential. this could be his breakout year.

and richards has been the best player for us overall. he is awesome. all over the ice involved in everything. and he finishes.

and it looks like sim is gonna win a roster spot, which was not expected coming in. h-cock even said there weren't any spots up for grabs, but he's been that good. savage or sharp may start the year on the phantoms.

[KeVoRkIaN]

Game On!!!! Go Flyers!!!!!!

[sandman]

15 games tonight. incredible. i'm going out to watch the flyers and plan to come home and watch all of sports center. highlights of 15 NHL games (and 3 MLB games). good stuff.

hitchcoack said he will have 4 2-man pairings and the 3rd wingers on each line will vary.

forsberg and gagne (carter will probably play with this pair)
richards and knuble (sim)
preems and stevenson (rads)
zuse and savage (brashear)

sharp will likely be a healthy scratch tonight but should get alot of playing time in upcoming games. and kapinen is out until november.

Defensive pairings are:

hatcher and pitkanen
rathje and johnson
rico and siedenberg

therien (aka bundy) is the 7th and will fill in for hatcher for the first 3 games.

[sandman]

cnn.si predicts the flames to win the cup over the sens.

iginla is great, but are his linemates really amonte and langkow?

if so, that's kinda weak IMO.

[Rob]

My pick for the Cup is Anaheim over New Jersey.

[Mal Brossard]

Amonte and Langkow are weak linemates?

Wow, you really do hate all the former Flyers in the NHL, don't you?


On an unrelated topic, Hal Gill sucks.

[Rob]

How bout them Rangers?  Pullin' off a comeback victory on the road against the favorites to win the East...good way to start things off.  I'm very excited to see Jagr look like his old self.

[sandman]

How bout them Rangers?? Pullin' off a comeback victory on the road against the favorites to win the East...good way to start things off.? I'm very excited to see Jagr look like his old self.

amonte is so washed up. he's so slow and he doesn't have the touch he once had. maybe the year off and playing with one of the best in teh league will rejuvinate him. but a cup fav that has him and mr. mediocrity langkow on the TOP line is suspect.

jagr looked great at times. but what imprssed me was how the rangers played as a team. they worked hard. everyone was giving 100%. you didn't see that from them in recent years.

comcast is showing the nhl package for free for one week. i was in heaven last night.....15 games! 

[Mal Brossard]

Tony Amonte has put up 20 goals per season for the last 9 years, plus 15 in the strike-shortened 94-95 season.  In his three seasons before this strike-shortened season, he had 17, 33, and 35 goals.  So he's still consistantly putting up good numbers.  I don't know how you can call him washed up, other than because the Flyers let him go.

Ditto on Langkow-- he has put up more than 20 goals and 50 points in his three previous seasons, plus he's an excellent faceoff man.

Amonte and Langkow will be at least as good as Conroy and Gelinas were in the regular season last year.  Gelinas' stats are similar to Amonte's, and once you add in the fact he's on a line with one of the best offensive players in the game, Amonte will put up better numbers.  Langkow is a better goal scorer than Conroy and an equivalent if not better faceoff man, but not as good of a passer.  Conroy had something like 40 assists and less than 10 goals next to Iginla, while Langkow's goals and assists are usually close to even.

Other than the loss of Conroy, the team is pretty much intact from last year.  They lost an injury-prone d-man in Lydman, and lost a tough d-man in Commodore, but upgraded the blueline by adding Phaneuf and Hamrlik.

Let's compare...

2005-2006 approximate Regular Season Lines
Amonte      Langkow      Iginla
Donovan      Reinprecht   Nilson
Simon      Yelle      Kobasew
Lombardi   Wiemer      McCarty

Ference      Hamrlik
Montador   Leopold
Warrener   Phaneuf

Kipprusoff
Sauve

OTHERS: Ritchie, Regehr, Myhres


2003-2004 approximate Playoff Lines
Gelinas      Conroy      Iginla
Saprykin   Reinprecht   Donovan
Kobasew      Yelle      Clark
Oliwa      Nilson      Nieminen

Leopold      Regehr
Warrener   Ference
Montador   Commodore

Kiprusoff
Turek

OTHERS: Lombardi, Simon, Lowry

To me, the team this year looks at least as strong as last year all around, and much stronger at defense and on the 3rd and 4th lines.  They lost some toughness in letting Oliwa go, but the addition of McCarty will bolster the team's toughness a bit and add someone who's a better player than Krzysztof is.

[sandman]

Tony Amonte has put up 20 goals per season for the last 9 years, plus 15 in the strike-shortened 94-95 season.? In his three seasons before this strike-shortened season, he had 17, 33, and 35 goals.? So he's still consistantly putting up good numbers.? I don't know how you can call him washed up, other than because the Flyers let him go.

Ditto on Langkow-- he has put up more than 20 goals and 50 points in his three previous seasons, plus he's an excellent faceoff man.

Amonte and Langkow will be at least as good as Conroy and Gelinas were in the regular season last year.? Gelinas' stats are similar to Amonte's, and once you add in the fact he's on a line with one of the best offensive players in the game, Amonte will put up better numbers.? Langkow is a better goal scorer than Conroy and an equivalent if not better faceoff man, but not as good of a passer.? Conroy had something like 40 assists and less than 10 goals next to Iginla, while Langkow's goals and assists are usually close to even.

Other than the loss of Conroy, the team is pretty much intact from last year.? They lost an injury-prone d-man in Lydman, and lost a tough d-man in Commodore, but upgraded the blueline by adding Phaneuf and Hamrlik.

Let's compare...

2005-2006 approximate Regular Season Lines
Amonte      Langkow      Iginla
Donovan      Reinprecht   Nilson
Simon      Yelle      Kobasew
Lombardi   Wiemer      McCarty

Ference      Hamrlik
Montador   Leopold
Warrener   Phaneuf

Kipprusoff
Sauve

OTHERS: Ritchie, Regehr, Myhres


2003-2004 approximate Playoff Lines
Gelinas      Conroy      Iginla
Saprykin   Reinprecht   Donovan
Kobasew      Yelle      Clark
Oliwa      Nilson      Nieminen

Leopold      Regehr
Warrener   Ference
Montador   Commodore

Kiprusoff
Turek

OTHERS: Lombardi, Simon, Lowry

To me, the team this year looks at least as strong as last year all around, and much stronger at defense and on the 3rd and 4th lines.? They lost some toughness in letting Oliwa go, but the addition of McCarty will bolster the team's toughness a bit and add someone who's a better player than Krzysztof is.

you'll see come playoff time. amonte is old and he wears down quick.

again, i didn't say amonte is an awful player. i said for a team many are calling one of the best in the league, i have to disagree.

remember, calgary was a low seed last year. but they made a nice run. BUT i am looking at them as a possible top 5 team in the league.

[Mal Brossard]

Well, Sidney Crosby is finally starting to put up a few numbers-- 1 goal and 2 assists last game to go with his two previous assists.  Here's top hoping he keeps it up.

On to a more serious topic now.  After watching the first three games of the Bruins' season, I have decided I will not spent one red cent on the National Hockey League this year.  My thoughts are pretty well summed up in this editorial written by a member of a hockey-related message board I post at.



Side Effects of New NHL Rules will Ruin the Game

Three nights of play and the verdict is in. The "new" NHL is a bad product. But scoring is up, the NHL brass will tell you. There are more power plays, no clutching and grabbing, the game is faster and the ice has been opened up as a result. But is this really what the fan wanted the NHL to be? And what are the side effects of these new rules?

I was lucky enough to be given four tickets to the first two Washington Capitals games. Apparently the owner of the tickets wasn't interested in sitting at center ice on the second level. Neither were countless other Washingtonians, as thousands of blue seats were left unfilled-- and this was opening night. The NHL was back! The pre-game entertainment brought a tear to my eye. The players took the ice and skated around and electrified globe to signify the unity between the players and the fans. The symbolism was well thought out and much appreciated. The National Anthem was sung and as it ended, the loyal fans roared in anticipation of the puck being dropped to officially open the new season for the new NHL.

Then it began. Penalty after penalty flowed in. The game was stopped numerous times for hooking, holding, and interference penalties. And most of these penalties were tick-tack hooks and holds. They didn?t slow the game down. They didn?t hamper the player. Capitals and Thrasher filed their ways to the penalty box with arms in the air wondering what they had done to deserve putting their team a man short for two full minutes. The fans wondered too. After watching a game on the tube, I saw the commentators are taking notice. After a Washington penalty, the Capitals play-by-play commentator jokingly asked the color commentator what he thought the penalty was for. "Hooking by chance?" he replied. The sarcasm saturated my TV like fury was saturating my brain. "The game is ruined!" I yelled as the t.v. "Fans are not going to want to see this product!"

What the NHL failed to consider when making these new rules was that fans want to see a game that flows. They do not want to see players escorted to the penalty box time after time simply because they gave a lame tug to an opposing player?s jersey. They do not want to see an entire sixty minutes of power play. You see, this was the NHL?s master plan for opening up scoring-- more power plays. Don?t get me wrong. They made some great changes that open up scoring without breaking the flow of the game. The two line pass is now allowable, creating more breakaways. The goalie cannot touch the puck in the corners, taking away the goalie?s power to control the puck when slapped down the ice. Now, the other team has a chance to race down and get it. The goalie?s pads are smaller-- another great rule. Three rules that will open up scoring. So why am I complaining so much about the sixty minute power play that creates more scoring, which in turn is supposedly more fan friendly? Where shall I begin?

In deciding to call a penalty for the smallest of infractions, players are no longer allowed to be tough, they are not allowed to put a stick near each other, and they are not allowed to check an opposing player without fear of being sent to the dreaded "sin bin." Opposing players are allowed to run into the goalie without fear of retribution. After being run into no less than four times by Thrashers skaters, Washington Capitals? goalie, Olaf Kolzig, took matters into his own hands and shoved the offender to the ice. Why did he do it? Maybe he was sick of watching his players not stick up for him. I know I was sick of it. Sixty minutes of power play also means less fighting. The tough guys, known to deter the opposing team from taking liberties-- like running into the goalie-- do not typically touch the ice during power plays or penalty kills. So what? Who cares? Fans don?t want to see fighting! Wrong.

Fans cheer just as loud for a fight as they do for a goal. Fans stand and cheer when a player sheds the mits to stand up for a teammate or to spark the team. They appreciate the tough guys for the role they play. I could go on and on about this. But if you ever get a chance to make it to a hockey game, NHL or minor leagues, and there is a fight, take a look around. Are fans hiding their faces? Or are they cheering? And ask yourself, why is the NFL the most popular sport in America right now? Because it is a tough sport and fans crave toughness. Wrong or right, physical sports, sports that allow the players to hit each other without fear of retribution, are popular in America. That is exactly why soccer will never catch on as a popular American sport. That is exactly why the NFL will continue to be popular and fans will continue to pay ridiculous pay-per-view fees for boxing matches. And it is exactly the reason the NHL will fade away if they continue rewarding a league that rewards only speed and finesse.

The NHL could fix this. One big rule that needs to be eliminated is the new instigator rule which states that a player will suspended for two games if they instigate a fight in the final five minutes of the game. This rule rewards dirty play in the final five minutes without fear of retribution. Example: there are three minutes left in the game and the score is 7-1. Finesse player A does not like Finesse player B and decides to whack him in the face with his stick fully aware that he is going to be sent to the penalty box for two minutes. Who cares? The other team is not going to score six goals in three minutes and no one is going to challenge Player A to a fight for doing it, so they'll do it. These types of incidences actually cause more serious injuries than do fights. But the NHL hasn?t done anything about it.

So what will the NHL look like this year? Expect scoring to be up. Expect scoring records to be challenged. All of this is wonderful, fans love scoring! But expect toughness to be harshly disciplined. Expect to see less fighting. Expect to see incidents of finesse players using their sticks as weapons. And eventually, expect to see more empty seats. I, for one, will not be paying a dime to see to a Washington Capitals game. The Capitals do not have tough players. Actually, they do, but they can't play them because the new NHL has created rules that deter playing them. Just ask Mr. Kolzig. Getting knocked to your back time and time again and watching your teammates not do anything about it has got to get tiresome.

[The New Fiona Apple]

My Penguins suck.

What else is new?

[Skeba]

The Penguins will rise...

It's been awful so far, except for a few individuals, and the offence seemed to work in the last game.

They recalled Fleury. He's started great in Wilkes-Barre. Hopefully he'll get to start tonight against Sabres.

[Rob]

I concur, Duffman.  I've caught good portions of the Rangers' first 4 games, and its been one long fucking power play.  Every couple minutes the Rangers are getting called for something.  Thankfully their penalty killing has been really good so far.  But a good majority of goals I've seen have been PPGs.  Its becoming almost odd when both teams are at even strength.  And of course there's the whole taking the toughness out of the game aspect.  The physicality of NHL hockey is one of the big reasons I love it so much.  I always say hockey players are the toughest athletes in major pro sports.  And now they're goona totally pussify the game to boost scoring.  Do they actually think they're gonna get more people to tune in just because teams are scoring more goals?  If anything they're just going to get long time loyal fans to tune out.  None of my non-hockey fan friends are all of a sudden getting into hockey because more penalties are being called.  If I'd explain to them the new rules they'd probably be even less likely to get into hockey.  Let the players decide the game, and let them be the tough motherfuckers that they are.  I'm really happy hockey's back, but this isn't the hockey I remember.