haroldsnepsts

With Capgeek shut down (RIP Matt), I figured I'd post some replacement websites I found and would like to hear other good sites people use in the absence of the brilliant one that was Capgeek. The two decent ones I know of are: nhlnumbers.com www.hockeyscap.com It might be good to also compile people's favorite stat sites in general. I know there's more cropping up with the increasing popularity of advanced stats.

Because he was being interviewed? If people are so bitter that these athletes are paid so much money for playing hockey, why even watch the sport? You're the ones ultimately paying their salaries. Hockey is entertainment. And entertainment is big business. These guys come from an elite talent pool and are paid accordingly. Technically they're actually underpaid because their salaries are artificially restricted by the cap.

Exactly. It's not like he literally didn't understand it was a business. If a player doesn't take a hometown discount as fans we call him greedy. Then a player expresses regret for taking a hometown discount and now he's greedy AND stupid. It's not like Glencross literally didn't understand the NHL is a business. During contract negotiations I'm sure management lobbies for him to be a "team player" and take a hometown discount. He got traded after a bad stretch and now feels his loyalty to them was not returned. It is a business, but I get why he regrets it. He didn't capitalize when the conditions were tilted more in his favor. Most players just don't talk about it that openly.

Again, Glencross isn't saying anything about struggling to live on the millions he's made. He's talking about leaving money on the table. Now that he's been traded after taking a hometown discount he realizes that this is first and foremost a business and regrets his decision.

Considering what they achieved the Islanders seem like the most overlooked dynasty in NHL history. 4 Stanley Cups in a row (Montreal is the only other team to better that feat and it was in the original 6 years) Won 19 consecutive playoff series (a completely untouchable record) and posted a 60-18 post season record They accomplished all this only 8 years after their creation as an expansion team.

I forgot Matt Cooke was bought out by the Wild. I'm guessing some team will pick him up for cheap, but I hold out hope this will be the year that POS is finally out of the league. http://www.thescore.com/nhl/news/818372

Comparing the morality of the two cases, I totally agree with what you're saying. But in terms of terminating Richard's contract, I wonder if the Kings think have an out because his using drugs directly impacts his performance as a professional hockey player, so it might not be a morality clause they're using. Who knows though. The Kings are definitely being opportunistic because of Richard's terrible contract. And I'm sure Lombardi is super pissed after a heart to heart meeting with Richards last season about turning things around instead of buying him out, only to find out he may have been abusing painkillers. I just hadn't heard about the NHL approving the termination anywhere else. If that's the case I'd have to think they have some fairly winnable case if Bettman and the NHL lawyers approved it.

A couple more short pieces on Arbour if any of the youngin's here who may not know who he was are interested. Definitely one of the greatest coaches of all time. http://www.thescore.com/nhl/news/818109 http://www.tsn.ca/hhof-coach-arbour-passes-away-1.352204

What's interesting is when they were talking about it on TSN they said multiple times that the NHL had approved the contract termination. It initially seemed to me that the Kings were trying a hail mary to get out of that contract, but if it had to be approved by the league I'd have to think there was at least some merit to it.

Wow. Even from Toronto that dastardly Babcock is somehow forcing Holland to sign Cleary again. I knew Babcock was good, but I didn't know he was that good.

His blood alcohol level was .30 at 5:15pm on a Thursday and he was driving that drunk with his son in the car. The next move should probably be rehab.

Ha. Honestly I watched it with the sound off so I hadn't really considered the NSFW potential of the song.

Simmonds is definitely a power forward. Which is even more impressive given how scrawny the guy is. I was bummed when the Kings traded him (though it ultimately worked out) and it wasn't to the Wings.

You could make a good case for either but I say d-man because they not only help keep the puck out of your own net, ideally they're keeping the puck out of your own end. Lidstrom wasn't just great at defense. He was a major part of what drove the Wings offense.

Jonathan Quick has a piece in the Player's Tribune on snipers in the NHL. It's a good read an an interesting perspective on goaltending. He picks Datsyuk as one of the snipers to highlight. http://www.theplayerstribune.com/jonathan-quick-kings-snipers/

I hear what you guys are saying. There's definitely a chicken egg factor and like I said, Kane probably is the best american forward. But I think strength of team is a factor and not just regarding linemates. It also affects matchups. If you're on a (relatively) one-trick pony team offensively, your opponent can match up their best shut down guys against you fairly regularly. Against a deeper team those matchups get spread thinner. Do you put your best guys against Toews line or Kanes?

Really? You didn't even mention Kane when you started the thread. If anything his team winning the Stanley Cup three times works against an argument for him as the clear best. Kane has played on great teams virtually since he came into the league.

I agree it's Kane, but I don't know that there's that large of a gap between him and Pacioretty. Kane has ridiculous hands but Pacioretty is an impressive goalscorer, especially given he's on the Habs. Surround him with the talent of the Blackhawks and I don't think his numbers would be that far off from Kane's.

A fair amount of Kings players or former Kings players since they're the team I see the most of after the Wings. Kopitar, Doughty, Wayne Simmonds, Willie Mitchell.

Darren Dreger ‏@DarrenDreger 4m 4 minutes ago 1 year contract for Stoll with NYR.

Part 2 of the article, featuring Stamkos, Kopitar, Tavares, Seguin and others. http://www.theplayerstribune.com/jonathan-quick-elite-nhl-snipers-part-2/

Started 330 NHL games with a .916 save percentage. Plus he played extremely well the first half of the season before his injury. A much larger sample than 7 games. I'm guessing they'll both get a shot at the starting job. This is in no way a criticism of Mrazek. Just that the team would be foolish to hand over the reigns completely to a guy with something like 41 NHL starts and who hasn't started more than 50 games since the OHL. They may start Mrazek right out of the gate, but he will have to play very well to hang onto the spot with Howard on the bench behind him. My guess is they play them as a tandem and keep them fighting for the #1 spot.

Mrazek has only started 34 games in his NHL career. I think Mrazek played well in the playoffs, but he still has to steal the starting job outright from Howard. He is not our #1 goalie yet. They're at best a tandem at the moment until he proves otherwise.

Elliotte Friedman ‏@FriedgeHNIC 16m 16 minutes ago Bernier and TOR settle: $4.15M in each of the next two years for the goalie This seems like a good deal for both sides. Bernier will have the 24th highest cap hit for goaltenders, so it's not like they broke the bank on him. And if he somehow stinks it up and they end up starting Reimer the next couple years, it's not like it'll cripple the team financially. They settled before the arbitrator award but I do have to wonder how ugly it got. The Leafs first counter offer was below what he made last season. Not a great way to treat your starter.

I don't think of Toews or Z as snipers. I can kind of see what Quick is getting at regarding Toews, but he doesn't really belong in the elite sniper conversation. He's an all around great player, but if he were as great at being in the right place at the right time as Quick makes it sound, he'd be a more prolific goal scorer. Toews is very good at everything but not elite in the scoring department. Because he's Canadian and the captain on a multiple Cup winning team he does get overrated a bit with "intangibles." Kopitar is a similar kind of player but doesn't get nearly the same amount of hype. I thought the Getzlaf example was really interesting as well. It shows so clearly how elite players manage to get a shot off by pulling it in and changing the angle so quickly. It keeps it from getting blocked and catches the goalie off guard. Whereas an average forward would've ripped a shot right into the defenseman's stick or skates.