Tuesday night open thread
I'm around, so why not have a rare open thread for the night?
TSN's got on Florida @ Montreal, which means most Canadians have access to a game tonight between two teams I'll admit I haven't seen a lot of so far.
Also on the schedule:
Atlanta @ Philadelphia - Johan Hedberg gets the start for the Thrashers
Calgary @ Colorado - Avalanche have yet to lose at home, outscoring opponents 15-6 in three games
Minnesota @ Los Angeles - The West's best team against its worst, and J-S Aubin is supposed to get the start here against Niklas Backstrom
I'll pick Panthers, Thrashers, Avalanche and Wild as winners.
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Labels: open thread
by James Mirtle @ 7:40 PM
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84 Comments:
Hmm... Hedberg and Biron are looking very solid through the first period. Always a pleasure to watch Briere and Hossa as well, even if the latter's coming off an injury.
Alex Kovalev opens the scoring for the Habs, their first shot on goal on the power play. Nice little play at the side of the net, flips it over Tomas Vokoun.
It's been a tough start for him so far, and even Jay Bouwmeester is minus-4 on the season for Florida.
Habs-philly-avs-wild how can you pick the thashers? lol
They're gonna win at some point :)
Nice little spinorama play by Mikhail Grabovsky, playing in his fifth NHL game (third this season). He's yet to score so far, but had 17 goals and 54 points last season in Hamilton as a rookie there.
Not bad for a fifth-round pick in 2004.
Interesting tidbit from TSN: Patrice Brisebois has now played in the fifth-most games by a Habs defenceman.
That's pretty impressive, given the history there.
I'll pick Panthers, Thrashers, Avalanche and Wild as winners.
Looking for that Backstrom win to even up the ol' fantasy week?
Damn I hate rooting for the Kings. So rarely pays off.
Mike Richards bangs one home for the Flyers. He and Jeff Carter are looking a lot better this year. Good news for the Philly legions.
So far, Earl, I haven't needed to root much for the Wild goalies.
Richards/Carter are going to have big careers in Philly; I think we'll look back on last season as a bizarre anomaly. Richards, in particular, has looked good playing the point on the power play when I've seen him.
Just noticed that Hedberg was out, before having a goal scored on him — anyone know the story on that?
Lehtonen's save percentage is a monster .500 so far.
Speaking of Flyers youngsters, Lupul picks up his fifth point in five games.
Just got this note in my inbox: "For the remaining four games in October, [Sharks netminder Thomas] Greiss will be wearing a specially designed Pink Sharks goalie mask to highlight the Sharks involvement" in a Breast Cancer Awareness Month campaign.
As far as I'm aware, Hedberg's never left the net, but maybe it's just Lehtonen in disguise.
Whoever it is, he just gave up another pair, one after the next. It's going to be another long night for the Thrash...
re:Pink Sharks goalie mask
Very classy move.
Your Thrashers pick doesn't look very good right now. 3-0 Philly. At least Atlanta is playing a bit better.
Hedberg actually is still in goal; the online summaries are wrong.
Although, given the score, he may not be for long.
How about those Flyers?
Ok OK OK the thrashers have to win sometime (just not tonight) :)
Kapanen potted that third goal on a loose puck that Hedberg left lying on the doorstep. I love the way Kap plays. A very fast, aggressive guy on the PK with offensive tools to boot.
Whew, Panthers are boggin' things down in the second period here. Good ol' Jacques Martin.
I'm chatting on email a bit with a fellow I know who works with the Thrashers. He says "Despite what people are saying, it’s not the goaltending. Or at least not just the goaltending."
I had an idea today. With Biron's unquestionable #1 status in Philly, what happens to Niittymaki?
In 4 games in the AHL, Brian Boucher is 4-0, with a 1.50GAA and 0.952SP. Nitty is signed through next year with a cap hit of $1.225mil. In light of potential goal issues, such as the Kings (which you've touched on already)-- do the Flyers trade Nitty if they can get something for him?
I think Nitty is more than capable, but as the case in Philly, they usually run goaltenders out in short order. Any team who wants to roll the dice could get a real bargain as long as his hips hold up. And even if it's a bad bargain, it's not going to be like paying Theodore.
Yeah, I was thinking about Niittymaki the other day; I bet he's in the mix for the job in LA, depending on what Holmgren wants for him.
I was actually looking through the AHL netminders today, and there are a ton of guys posting good numbers so far. Boucher's got his work cut out for him to get back into the NHL.
If the Kings are interested (and at least after the year Philly had last year they wouldn't worry as much about breaking him on a bad team), what would Philly want?
LA has a number of young players to build with who they obvioulsy want to keep, and it isn't as though they could pretend they weren't desperate.
Jason Smith looks odd in a Flyers jersey.
Speaking of X philly goaltenders:
Goaltender Robert Esche has signed with Ak Bars Kazan of the Russian Super League.
Whew, 4-0 in Philly as Randy Jones knifes one in.
Huet's looking good through two, Panthers/Habs has been pretty good so far.
And James, sorry I didn't respond to that trade proposal sooner. I would have declined anyways...
Now if only Olli & Zednick can get rolling for Florida in the 3rd, I'll be a happy camper.
I can't say I'm a big fan of the colour in the Habs game. Montreal is going to be pissed if they can't hold the lead after that second period.
Dirk - you must have missed the goal Kovalev had then; 'twas a beaut!
Phaneuf scores one early as the Calgary/Colorado tilt gets underway.
Hossa's first game back coming off a groin injury hasn't been an easy one, as he's already played more than 20 minutes a game, tops among Thrashers forwards.
2-0 flames ;(
David Moss nets his first of the season: 2-0 Flames.
My picks are in trouble tonight, me thinks.
James - I just saw that Kovalev goal during the intermission, and had to back it up a few times just to be sure he didn't have that puck on a string... there's no question that Kovy can still put up a highlight or two on occasion.
That Esche move was rumored on Spector's the other day, and it appears like it's officially gone down:
http://www.uticaod.com/homepage/x1302701645
Either the Kings weren't desperate enough to offer Esche a contract or his demands were too high.
I agree that Niitty could be a good option for the Kings. Even during training camp there seemed to be some whispers that he could be shipped out in favor of Boucher.
Meanwhile, Calgary's out to an early two goal lead against Peter Budaj and the Avalanche.
Oh, goal credited to Nilson now, in Colorado. Budaj has faced four shots and had two go past him; might be a long night if Theodore comes in.
The defenseman got in the way of budaj on the last goal.
The open thread: Where news breaks.
4-0 is a final now in Philadelphia; what an ugly start for Atlanta.
Dating back to the final game of last season, the Thrashers have lost 11 in a row.
"Despite what people are saying, it’s not the goaltending. Or at least not just the goaltending."
This is what I would say about the Kings as well. I mean, the goaltending for sure should have been dealt with better this summer, but as for the losses they've had, it's much more than just a Cloutier problem of yesteryear. I think there are less "bad" goals getting let in this year than last, by my eye.
The team is getting killed before a goalie gets involved. The Kings probably will have to get a goalie, sure, but the team in front of him has got to play better or it really won't matter.
3-0 flames
Given my pregame picks, I've just jinxed undefeated Minnesota.
The open thread: Where news breaks.
Can't blame the goalies in Atlanta unless they're responsible for scoring goals too...
I doubt the Kings are interested in giving up anything for someone who's available because they failed somewhere else. They've already got Cloutier for that. Gerber I could see; Fernandez and Raycroft at least have a history of success. Niitymaki or Esche? The guys they've got are good enough to miss the playoffs; why trade for a guy that you know isn't good enough to make them?
October 16th, 2007: the debut of the James Mirtle "Kiss of Death."
October 16th, 2007: the debut of the James Mirtle "Kiss of Death."
I dunno; I remember him picking the Wild to win it all last spring. :P
Panthers keep me alive...
Nathan Horton will have a great year, mark my words.
(He ties it with 10 seconds left, for those relying on this thread for boxscores.)
4-0 FLAMES
4-1 Avs smyth
And, as predicted, Theodore's in goal. Here's hoping it's not as ugly as I think it'll be.
You'd almost swear Florida is playing for the shootout, if not for their 2-10 record in it last year.
I hope your right mirtle iam not a theo fan what so ever.
Well, tonight's game in Montreal was a perfect representation of what's wrong with the shootout, as Florida comes away with a win despite having just one player show up in any form (Tomas Vokoun, who was terrific).
4-2 smyth
Honestly, every time the Habs play a game like that, it takes a year off my life.
I'll be lucky to see 30.
4 min PP for the avalanche 4-3 under review.
We're underway in Los Angeles, and it's Aubin v. Backstrom in goal.
Was it Smyth again for Colorado?
4-4 AVS!
Good God, they better put Budaj back in to hold that one. :)
No brunette got the other..
Good God, they better put Budaj back in to hold that one. :)
LMAO! i hear ya!
Wow.
Did Calgary decide to take a little nap after scoring four goals?
And is steam coming out of Keenan's ears yet?
Adam C, I think you're wrong. Or haven't you seen a Flyers game in a few years?
Both Nitty and Esche were good enough to get the Flyers into the playoffs; in fact, Esche was in net when the Flyers were one game shy of making the Cup finals in 2004. So your belief that, "he guys they've got are good enough to miss the playoffs; why trade for a guy that you know isn't good enough to make them" might only be true in Esche's case.
Don't forget, Nitty is a silver medal winner (and that as Finland's third string goalie who played because Kipper stayed home and Sieve Lehtonen was injured) as well as a Calder Cup. First and foremost, he's played behind Philly's defense, which really hasn't been great for years until perhaps this season.
I also don't think it's an issue of Nitty necessarily failing at the starter's job, but Biron being available and being perceived as an upgrade. Whether Biron, with no NHL playoff experience, will be the right choice come April could be the real make or break issue for the Flyers.
PP avs end of the period so they will start the third on the PP.
Wow.
Did Calgary decide to take a little nap after scoring four goals?
And is steam coming out of Keenan's ears yet?
Actually the avs are throwing everything and anything at the net and it's going in via deflections.
Shame on Montreal for not using any right-handed shooters against Vokoun, like Ryder or Smolinski. Over the last couple years right-handed shooters score about 11% more often against right-handed catching goalies like Vokoun...
Actually the avs are throwing everything and anything at the net and it's going in via deflections.
Ah, desperate pressure. That makes more sense.
Sounds like the third period of that game is going to be interesting.
6:32 into the game, Minnesota doesn't have a shot yet... zzzz
Spoke too soon - Demitra gets one after Gaborik dipsy-doodles around the entire Kings team. 1-0 Wild.
Ah, desperate pressure. That makes more sense.
Sounds like the third period of that game is going to be interesting.
Yep.. but i do like the fact the avs didn't go into a futile wave after wave of trying to cram it into the zone again. (they just threw the puck) and good thing happened.
Time for the Wild to hold onto the lead and wind down the clock. Only 51 more minutes to go...
PP avs
PP flames
Dang, Scott Thornton picks a corner on Backstrom and ties it up for L.A.! That was unexpected...
Fun fact: It took the Flyers until Nov. 15 to get their fourth win last season.
Fun fact: It took the Ducks until Dec. 16 to get their fourth regulation loss last season.
In fact, that 4th Flyer win came against the Ducks (their 2nd L).
My fact was funner.
Ryan smyth has 11 shots on net tonight thus far.
It's official magoo is an idiot.
I repeat magoo is a idiot..
avs win in shoot out 5-4
Interesting to see both Theodore and Vokoun (two of the few right-handed catching goalies) in the shootout tonight.
Against left-handed shooters, Vokoun & Theodore stopped all five shooters.
Against right-handed shooters, Jarome Iginla scored in the only attempt.
S: Allan Bester won a Calder Cup.
The Flyers' past success came with some pretty powerful teams; rightly or wrongly, Philly believed their lack of Cup success came down to goaltending. Niitymaki was not seen as the answer, so they acquired Biron - who you admit is himself relatively unproven, but has started every game so far this year.
I'll admit, he still has potential, but so does Labarbera or Aubin. Adding one more questionable goaltender doesn't help LA. They need someone proven or they might as well not bother.
Think about how many playoff teams last year viewed Biron as a definite upgrade...
3-3 and heading to overtime in Los Angeles, although it seems like everyone here's packed up shop.
Thanks to those that came out; will have to do this again sometime.
theodore played well in his time in net for Colorado tonight. He was square to the shooters, he wasn't scrambling like he does when he is woefully off his game, and, even in the 4-1 loss to St. Louis, he still looked capable and, while not the confident Theo of old, he looked a lot more confidant than he has been. Being a contract year, one can only hope he brings at least a fraction of his game back to the table here, and if Colorado could have a forced race between the two netminders, pushing each other, I think that would work wonders.
Of course, colorado's terrible, terrible defensive zone coverage probably makes the point moot.
Ultimately, I just like those roman numerals on theo's mask, those frozen gargoyles. It's like Marty Turco got stuck in a freezer.
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