Comments for April 23, 2012 at http://hockey.dobbersports.com , comment 1 to 14 out of 14 comments http://hockey.dobbersports.com Mon, 20 May 2013 01:13:14 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/home-mainmenu-1/24-rambling/4583-april-23-2012#comment-20577 Not sure how Luongo got a raw deal in Vancouver...Seems like they gave him every chance over the past 2-3 years to bring it home and he failed, did not deliver and performed below expectations...This is pro hockey...win or die...Luongo has not stood up to the pressure of playoff hockey..Yes, he will deliver for at least 3-5 years good stats and wins, just not a Cup! - mike hess Wed, 25 Apr 2012 05:14:24 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/home-mainmenu-1/24-rambling/4583-april-23-2012#comment-20553 Kevin, To think that because the Flames are making money, they are running their business well is wrong. Enron made a lot money with no product and it caught up to them. It's like saying there is a town with a diamond mine and only has one crappy, dingy pub is a very well run pub. It's not. It's a crappy watering hole, that makes money because of the industry around it, not because it is a good business. - Ross The Boss Palmer Mon, 23 Apr 2012 09:14:38 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/home-mainmenu-1/24-rambling/4583-april-23-2012#comment-20552 The team that is. Kevin: the Flames management cant take credit for the Alberta Oil economy, fact is the team hasnt been good enough for years and theyve done nothing about it but saddle themselves with bloated contracts. Their lack of playoff revenue is a huge loss. Any canadian team is going to do half decent putting mediocre teams out there- they shouldnt get kudos for that. Infact I would put Calgary in the bottom 5 of mismanaged teams the last 3yrs (now that Florida has turned it around) Salo didnt look great in the playoffs, was a rock in the regular season and apparently still wants to play, at $2mil (or ideally less) I think he comes back, but only in Vancouver, i doubt he moves for one more year of hockey. Niemi isnt going to win the Sharks anything,along with Theodore in FLA they are the weakest starters,but that contract will keep him in SJ, whom have drafted alot of goalies-but graduated none since Nabokov/Kipper. Outside of Pavelski and Couture,everyone is fair game. SJ's biggest problem might be the lack of prospects in their system- arguably the worst in the league. Hockey is a funny game, who wouldve predicted both Pitt and Van out in the first round (and early at that) and that two of the best goalies (Elliott and Smith) were recently struggling backups lucky to get NHL gigs. It wasnt long ago that Anderson in Ottawa was basically discarded by the Avs as well. - Larry Mon, 23 Apr 2012 09:12:56 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/home-mainmenu-1/24-rambling/4583-april-23-2012#comment-20549 Hey Dobbs, love the site but when you state "I’m a businessman who loves good business sense" and then list the Calgary Flames as a team with none it doesn't really make a lot of sense. Say what you want about their aging team and lack of prospects but if there is one thing that is apparently clear (almost to a fault) it is that the Calgary Flames are run as a buisness. Ken King has lined ownerships pockets over the last decade, and despite fan outcry to trade players such as Iginla and Kipper they realize that they are the faces of the team and 99% of the merchandise sold is directly related to the two. They are, and will continue to be, in the black and have strong connections with the Oil and Gas corporate sector in the City which buy overpriced boxes with overpriced beer and overpriced food and overpriced parking. Say what you will about how the team is run on the ice, but off the ice (BUISNESS) the Flames are a model for success. When (not if) the team starts to fall further in the standings people will still pay to see Flames hockey for the same reason that the fans in Toronto pay absobanant prices - they love hockey. - Kevin Mon, 23 Apr 2012 08:05:51 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/home-mainmenu-1/24-rambling/4583-april-23-2012#comment-20548 noglove - as far as I know, it IS the date of the last edit, not first post - Dobber Mon, 23 Apr 2012 07:14:39 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/home-mainmenu-1/24-rambling/4583-april-23-2012#comment-20547 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/forums/showthread.php?p=941236#post941236 - Maximus Mon, 23 Apr 2012 06:50:59 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/home-mainmenu-1/24-rambling/4583-april-23-2012#comment-20546 The entire post can be found in the forum. It's too long for the comments section. http://hockey.dobbersports.com/forums/showthread.php?p=941236#post941236 [u]It’s clear that the weakness is D.[/u] First off, let's get the goalies out of the way. UFA B. Johnson – 600K – Drop RFA B.Thiesson – 525K+ - Keep Fleury isn’t going anywhere (not that he needs to) and the best case is that they get a capable backup that pushes him to perform while giving him plenty of rest. Last season Fleury sucked in October and Johnson went on a role and started a lot in November, Fleury rebounded from sitting on the bench and was stellar to end the season. Him losing time when he sucks + being pushed by back-up + getting more rest = near elite status MAF. Thiessen is a RFA and would need a raise on his 525K (plus bonuses), so long as it’s kept close to 1M, I could see him riding the pine at the end of the Pens bench. He’s played well in the AHL and deserves a shot at some more NHL starts. He played well when Johnson was “sick” for a few weeks (I think he was evaluating whether or not he wanted to keep playing this season and beyond, retirement is pending) except for getting shelled and giving up 8 in his last start. I think he could serve well especially if Bylsma lets him get some starts in October and November and builds up his confidence. Now to the players. ..... - Maximus Mon, 23 Apr 2012 06:48:49 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/home-mainmenu-1/24-rambling/4583-april-23-2012#comment-20545 The site looks great, and there's a ton of good info. I have one suggestion: on the team pages it has a date next to every player, I think this should be the date of the last edit rather than the original posting date. For example, Sven Baertschi's page was updated in April but it has a date of December 2011. - noglovenolove Mon, 23 Apr 2012 06:22:41 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/home-mainmenu-1/24-rambling/4583-april-23-2012#comment-20544 What a beast! Definitely Big 4, definitely, and he's not the 4th in that group either IMO. What is amazing to see is the elite offensive production despite all the time he spends playing short-handed. I'd like to see Malkin and co putting up Giroux' numbers while playing well over 2min per game SH. - Christian Bergeron Mon, 23 Apr 2012 04:45:14 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/home-mainmenu-1/24-rambling/4583-april-23-2012#comment-20542 One of the best ramblings of the year. Super good! (DH & DB are both running smoothly for me, congrats on switch-over) - Pengwin7 Mon, 23 Apr 2012 04:38:45 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/home-mainmenu-1/24-rambling/4583-april-23-2012#comment-20541 Going to be an interesting off season for the Penguins. I'm not sure Brad Thiessen is the answer to back up Fleury. If Sullivan will come back on another one year deal for the same salary that he played for this yer, you have to bring him back. Niskanen is going to be a salary cap casualty unless the Penguins can find a way to to sucker, I mean get a trading partner for either Martin, Michaelek or both. The Pens have too many defensemen chomping at the bit down in the minors that they need to get to the big club both for their talent and their low cost. Guys like Simon Despres, Brian Strait, Robert Bortuzzo and possibly even Joe Morrow should all get a long look in training camp next year, and at least two of them should make the club. Where it gets really interesting is that after July 1, the team can open up negotiations on new deals for Sid and Jordan Staal. Sid's deal will work this way. Ray Shero, "Sid, how much do you want?" Sid, "This much(Insert whatever number you want here)" Ray Shero, "Okay" Staal will be a little different. If he wants to hold out for the big $'s that he would get on another team as a first or second line Center, then he will most likely be moved next year. If, on the other hand, he has a talk with older brother Eric, who says he'd trade places with Jordan in a heartbeat, then maybe he realizes that trading some dollars for a shot at being in contention for the Cup every year is a better way to go. - Stu Neft Mon, 23 Apr 2012 03:40:24 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/home-mainmenu-1/24-rambling/4583-april-23-2012#comment-20540 First time i check the standings and I'm doing ok I guess lost a few canucks, just need NJ to come back... not one person in the top 50 ATM will finish in the top 50 everyone has Pens players. Tim Lucarelli has a good chance of winning, only lost Ian White so far, pretty impressive Sharks- Keep Big Joe, not many players like him in the NHL. Guys his age and older are still able to dominate simply because of the natural skill. Iginla, St. Louis, Teemu make teams good sometimes. No Iginla can't single-handedly bring the Flames to the cup finals anymore, let alone the playoffs, but he's good enough to build around for another year, Big Joe even more so. The problem will be riding out Niemi in nets. So go out and get good D. Ryan Suter anyone? Trade marleau to anyone a solid 2nd-3rd liner. Someone here pointed out the other day they traded away the only hard nosed grinder they had, in Jamie McGinn. That same someone was saying get a David Clarkson type player, agreed. Trade Marleau for that type of guy. Move Clowe to the guy you bring in's line and have them play time with Pavelski. Put Havlat with Big Joe and just ask Minnesota for Charlie Coyle back. They have enough top end talent to score, a top PP unit of Big n LiL Joe, Havlat, Boyle and Burns should be top 5 in the league. Just get a another top D so Vlasic/Demers aren't in your top 4D. - Derrek Mon, 23 Apr 2012 03:02:05 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/home-mainmenu-1/24-rambling/4583-april-23-2012#comment-20539 Love the prospects site D, kudos ! aside from their numerous lottery picks I don't see a lot of real talent coming out of pittsburgh, then again I felt they tanked for a chance at Mario too robert dome, milan kraft, koltsov, orpik, armstrong, whitney, 4 straight years of lottery picks followed by esposito ? further half their starting defensemen were free agents NY's blueline is far superior, younger, cheaper and arguably better because they are improving as a core together. from the look of it, Nashville has done a better job of assembling talent than steel town has. So have the Sharks, and the aforementioned spoked wheel from Detroit. As far as lottery picks go, I actually prefer to watch Kane and Toews But perhaps that is because I will never forget the Crosby slewfoot on Callahan thanks again for the site - paul Mon, 23 Apr 2012 03:01:09 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/home-mainmenu-1/24-rambling/4583-april-23-2012#comment-20538 The thing I'm wondering about most (after certain teams got eliminated), is this: The NHL announced a crackdown on obstruction and headhunting going on 3-4 years ago. So GMs of certain teams (the Canucks, the Pens, etc.) build for speed and skill to take advantage of more penalty calls. Then the NHL, unannounced, relaxes its calls on obstruction, especially this year, and concussions are on the rise with few real penalties. Shouldn't more GMs be POed at this turn of events? - Krysmo Sun, 22 Apr 2012 22:16:35 +0100