2007 Year in Review: 'Twas Pretty Good, Ja!

by Jes

(c) The Instigator, 2007

While most of you are recovering from hangovers, I had to deal with the most vicious virus this side of Cyrus. The effects feel the same, but it's not nearly as much fun :(

Looking back, 2007 was a great year for hockey in and around Vancouver, and an interesting one for the NHL in general.

The Vancouver Giants hosted and then won the Memorial Cup. This proves that some hockey teams can win in this city ;)

The Canucks were pretty damn competitive themselves, helped in large part to the fact that Dave Nonis once-upon-a-time ripped a new asshole into Mike Keenan and got Roberto Luongo for pretty much pennies on the dollar.

Speaking of Keenan, he somehow managed to snake his way back into the NHL as head coach of the Flamers. So far, Armageddon hasn't arrived ... will 2008 be the year?

Sidney Crosby. 'Nuff said

Former Giant Milan Lucic made the Bruins roster this season and stuck due to his crashin and bashin.

Meanwhile, poor Gilbert Brule continues to get about 4 minutes of ice time, all with goons, per night with the BJs.

The Anaheim Ducks brought the Stanley Cup to the West Coast. Bout damn time.

The Canes went from Cup champeens to golfing in May. Good goaltending is key, kiddos.

The NHL FanHouse kicked you in the nuts so hard that your children will be born with dents.

The Maple Leafs continue to bungle things and prove that they are run by too many chefs, care about nothing but the bottom line, and won't win a cup in this blogger's lifetime.

Mats Sundin continues to be the most consistant offensive producer of our era. Why this guy continues to get panned is beyond me.

Todd Bertuzzi? He barely puts up .5 points a game, and gets paid $4mil/season to do so. Way to go, Burkie.

Chris Simon earned himself 55 games worth of suspensions, and proved himself to be Thug of the Year.

The Flyers take the team honour in that category. Welcome back, Broad Street Bullies *grumble*

Bill Wirtz died, instantly ushering a new era of awesomeness for Hawks fans. Shiny new rookies scoring left and right, home games on TV, a Wirtz (his son) who actually wants to build and cultivate the fan base? It's all on the upswing for Chi-Town. As cruel as it is to say, Bill Wirtz had to die for the Hawks to ever do something right.

Chara vs. Koci = Fight of the Year

The NHLPA finally got a new leader that actually has the concerns of the players in mind, and not just the inner circle. Ted Saskin? He and his cronies were caught spying on players emails, sniffing their own socks, and generally acting like the bunch of corrupt NHL owners they claim to not be like.

Dion Phaneuf and Sean Avery in a death match = what all fans want to see. The winner? He's put on a pedestal and shot in the head.

Gaborik's 5 goals in a game. Ovechkin's 4? Meh.

Scott Niedermayer CAN'T MAKE UP HIS FRICKIN' MIND, screwing his team and forcing Burke to do some arts and crafts to get under the salary cap.

More insane salary inflation. Kinda makes you wonder what the lockout was about, eh?

Alexei Yashin was bought out, and then went back to Europe to be overpaid for disappearing in the playoffs.

The stupid schedule finally scrapped. Yes, people in Vancouver can see Crosby and Ovechkin more than once every three seasons.

Canada won the Spengler Cup. Booya!

Kevin Lowe ... Dustin Penner ... Brian Burke ... lots of laughs.

The Reebok (Rbk) uniforms were an utter disaster. Not only were 9/10 uglier than Donald Trump's hair, but all of the sweat accumulated in big puddles in the players' gloves and skates. Many teams promptly told the league to "Suck It", and then went back to the 'old' material design.

Jonathan Cheechoo = The Brady Anderson of Hockey?

Dan Cloutier continues the most rapid decline of any goaltender since Jim Carey.

Jim Balsillie was screwed out of the Nashville Predators by Bettman and his cronies. The NHL continues to have a team in a weak market thanks to Bettman's 'vision'

Canada won the WJC...again.

2008? We begin with an outdoor match between the Sabres and Penguins. Ty Conklin, who started in the Heritage Classic, is getting the start? How the hell does this guy start in 2 NHL games, let alone 2 outdoor ones? That is just ... odd.

Wednesday's Wacky Whisperings

by Jes

Just a bunch of ran-dumb thoughts to empty out of my head

After starting the season off with a bang (2 assists in his debut), Jaroslav Hlinka has hit the wall and hasn't had a single point in his last 5 games and also is -2. Hmm ... Greg or another Avs fan will have to let me know why he's done nothing since the opener.

Paul Stastny is on pace for 177 points. W00t!

Miroslav Satan: 1 assist and -3 in 6 games. WTF, eh?

Dustin Penner: 1 goal and 1 assist in 6 games. Money well spent.

The LA KINGS are in some kind of trouble, having given up 28 goals in 7 games!! Sheesh, it makes you wonder if Dan Cloutier is available for a call up. Only 2 players on the roster have a positive +/-

Rob Blake: Thou art done, son. D00d might have had 34 points last year, but he was noticeably slow and finished with an awful -26. This season, he's a league worst -9 in 7 games and isn't doing much offensively. The Kings were dumb to give him such a large contract, and now he's a big 'anchor', and not the good kind.

Oh, and how much longer will Marc Crawford be coaching? D00d was awful in his last season with the Canucks, and hasn't looked good with the Kings. Perhaps it is time to go back to the broadcast booth, where he'd be welcome with open arms.

How in the hell are the Blackhawks 3-2? Well, check out their goaltending stats... 1.79GAA and 93.4SV%. The Hawks have scored only 9 goals in 5 games, so the good times won't last.

How does the high-powered, expensive Rangers lineup have just 10 goals in 5 games? Well, I wonder if we are seeing a return of the all-talent, no-chemistry Rangers of old. Sign a bunch of expensive stars and watch them fizzle? We shall see...

Typical bad coaching: The Canadiens get a 1-0 lead against the Panthers last night THREE MINUTE into the frickin game. What do they do? They sit back and defend, defend, defend. It serves them right that the Panthers tied it with 10 seconds to go, and then smoked them in the shootout.

I'll never get why teams sit back so much, especially on a one-goal lead, when they are ahead. Keep doing what got you the lead, and apply pressure!! The best defence is a good offence, IMO.

The Atlanta Thrashees are now 0-6 and the Bob Hartley Death Watch continues. Honestly, I don't see why Don Waddell, their GM, isn't also on the firing line. He's been with the team since its inception, and they haven't done much of anything under his tenure. Sure, they made the playoffs last year, but they were swept away like a dust ball. Dealing a huge chunk of assets for a couple of rentals (like Tkachuk) indicates short-term thinking gone bad.

The Flyers are back ... ugh. It's easy, once again, to despise this team for their thuggish behaviour, awful uniforms, and just overall assholeness. It was hard to hate them last year when they were so pitiful. Now? It's like old times.

Oh, and "Danny" Briere? WTF? Since when did he change his first name? Really, Daniel (pronounced Danielle) really fit him so well. Danny is just so lame. Did the flyers marketing department just deem Daniel to be too wimpy? Kind of like how Bobby Clarke became Bob Clarke (Although everyone still calls him Bobby)?

Carolina always had the offence, but lacked the goaltending. It's nice to see Cam Ward finally put together a nice streak. He's started the season with this line, which makes you think he's finally arrived for a regular season: 1.79GAA and a 94.2SV%. Nice!

Photo of the Day: Stanley Gets an MRI

Some guys do strange things with the Stanley Cup ...

Dustin Penner? He decided to take it for an MRI.

After a good hour's drive from Winnipeg, Uncle Dale pulled up in front of the Boundary Trails Health Centre, where Dustin's Mom, Linda, is a nurse. His grandfather was there to meet him, too. They took the Stanley Cup through the hallways, saying hi to so many of the patients, then stopped in an area with which Dustin is all too familiar. In fact, he has spent so much time in this particular room that his photo is taped to the MRI machine there. "Hey, they're responsible for putting me back together," he smirked with a shrug.

Penner better have made the most of his time with the mug, since he'll never get close to it again as a member of the Oilers.

Blogger Poll #1: Who is the Worst Free Agent Signing?

by Jes

On a lark, I decided to poll a few of my fellow hockey bloggers with a selected question. This could become a regular feature, since it offers the chance to get a spectrum of views in a nice capsulated format.

The first question: What was the worst free agent signing of the NHL off-season?

The one with the most answers with mighty-mite Daniel Briere, for which the Flyers were panned heavily for giving out such a long-term deal to a shrimp.

Mike Chen:

I'm going with Daniel Briere. Who the hell gets an EIGHT-YEAR term not named Crosby or Ovechkin? (Jes: Rick DiPietro) Couple it with the fact that the Flyers don't play Buffalo's go-go-go system, nor do they have the same offensive depth as the Sabres, and you're looking at a marked point drop and a bad cap hit for years to come. I could be wrong, but I see Briere's skills tapering off around year four of his deal.

Snoopyjode, from The Sidney Crosby Show:

BY FAR, my choice is the Daniel Briere signing. The Flyers basically bet the entire ranch on him. He's a somewhat decent and reliable player, but he's only had one really notable "standout" season in the NHL, so he's not even close to being worth what he got in that deal.

AND, Earl Sleek from the Battle of California:

In my opinion, the worst free agent signing this offseason was Philly's signing of Daniel Briere. I don't watch a ton of eastern conference hockey, but looking at the dollars and years committed, I think he's a guy who's very likely to underperform over the life of the contract.

Ritch Duncan, the American Hockey Fan (yes, the only one), had a very unique choice: Kevin Garnett to the Boston Celtics.

OK, how is a basketball trade the worst move of the hockey off-season? I'll tell ya. If there was one consolation for Bruins fans living in a town dominated by the Sox and Patriots, we could argue that with the Celtics around, the B's weren't the most pathetic team in town. It wouldn't have been a strong argument, but one could make it. Now, thanks to Mr. Garnett ( who has 2 inches on Zdeno Chara, by the way), the Boston Bruins are the least interesting sports draw in New England.

My fellow FanHouse cohort, Greg Wyshynski, wasn't too excited about the Habs paying heavily for a 2nd line defenseman.

Roman Hamrlik, four-year, $22-million deal with Montreal. He nearly had Mark Streit's stats, and now he has Sheldon Souray's money.

Michael the Hockey Fanatic chastised Kevin Lowe for his crazy RFA bids. I have to disagree about the 'playing nice' part, however. Hockey is war, on and off the ice ...

"I think the Vanek/Penner signing was the worst this off season because it exposed a loop hole in the FA rules when everybody is supposed to play nice and focus on the big picture of winning back fans."

JP Swenson, my San Francisco tour guide, and webmeister of the long-running Sharkspage.com agrees with me that the Ducks signing Todd Bertuzzi was dumber than Eddie Murphy thinking we want to see him making bad jokes in a fat suit for the third time.

Instead of hanging on to a young, dominant physical power forward and matching Edmonton's offer to Dustin Penner, Burke signs an aging Bertuzzi to a contract that hamstrings the Ducks financially. Bertuzzi has yet to regain his previous form after returning from injury, and there are too many off ice issues that might cause distractions down the line. Burke did not want his players to develop in a "fear free" environment, but now they may have to fear how the loss of a Niedermayer and Selanne will effect the team down the stretch run and in the playoffs.

The Acid Queen loves to hate (the Red Wings) and is predicting woe to those who sign Peter Forsberg and his "glass ankles".

It's going to be whoever signs Peter Forsberg--hopefully that'll be Detroit, so I can laugh at them. The guy has glass ankles, and he's breaking down rapidly. Peter The Great is no longer so. He should just retire from the NHL and head back to Sweden so he can try to win an SEL title with MoDo.

As for myself, I almost agree with my girlfriend, who suggest that "Anyone who doesn't sign Jan Bulis" is the answer to the worst FA signing question, but I'll have to go with Dustin Penner.

As much as I like the big lug, he is nowhere near worth $4mil per season AND all of the draft picks the Oilers gave up to get him. The Flyers will give up just cap space, while the Oilers give up that and some future assets for a 2nd line winger.

PS: HAPPY 20TH BIRTHDAY TO SIDNEY CROSBY!!

One more year and he can legally drink in the US of A.