2014-2015 NHL Thread

[L K]

Buffalo has 21 goals in 17 games.  I don't know what the record is for fewest goals in a season in an 82-game season, but I wouldn't be shocked if Buffalo owned that record after this year. 

Could they score fewer than 100 this season?  Fewer than 92, individually beaten by Gretzky?

133 goals by the 54-55 Blackhawks
446 goals against by the 74-75 Capitals
8 wins - 74-75 Capitals
21 points - 74-75 Capitals
9.35% PP - 97-98 Lightning

The 06-07 Bluejackets were shut out 16 times in a year
The Sabres are a really bad team but they still won't go down as the worst team in NHL history.

 

[princedpw]

Buffalo has 21 goals in 17 games.  I don't know what the record is for fewest goals in a season in an 82-game season, but I wouldn't be shocked if Buffalo owned that record after this year.  You

Could they score fewer than 100 this season?  Fewer than 92, individually beaten by Gretzky?

133 goals by the 54-55 Blackhawks
446 goals against by the 74-75 Capitals
8 wins - 74-75 Capitals
21 points - 74-75 Capitals
9.35% PP - 97-98 Lightning

The 06-07 Bluejackets were shut out 16 times in a year
The Sabres are a really bad team but they still won't go down as the worst team in NHL history.

So far, they are easily on pace for fewest goals scored ....

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

Buffalo has 21 goals in 17 games.  I don't know what the record is for fewest goals in a season in an 82-game season, but I wouldn't be shocked if Buffalo owned that record after this year. 

Could they score fewer than 100 this season?  Fewer than 92, individually beaten by Gretzky?

This is your new life, Josh Gorges.  At least you get to live in the majestic metropolis of Buffalo.

 

[Peter D.]

I thought Buffalo would be bad this year, but no where near this bad.  They signed Gionta and Moulson, traded for Gorges, were going to have Stewart an entire year, had decent goaltending options in Enroth and Neuvirth.  Some wondered if their moves were going to take them out of the McDavid lottery range.  Evidently not.

I don't think Ted Nolan signed up for this.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

I thought Buffalo would be bad this year, but no where near this bad.  They signed Gionta and Moulson, traded for Gorges, were going to have Stewart an entire year, had decent goaltending options in Enroth and Neuvirth.  Some wondered if their moves were going to take them out of the McDavid lottery range.  Evidently not.

Problem is none of the guys you listed are really difference makers. Gionta is 35 and has seen his point totals drop for a few years now. He's a 3rd liner playing in a 2nd line role. Moulson is a complimentary top-6 forward who's now being used as a centrepiece. Gorges is a #4 defenceman being used on the top pairing. Stewart is close to playing himself out of the NHL entirely. And neither of those goalies have shown they're anything more than just good back-up.

Then you have to consider that there really aren't many teams right now that are definitely in the lottery range. Bottom feeders like Edmonton, Calgary, and Florida have all improved their teams and while they probably aren't playoff-ready yet they'll definitely be adding to their previous seasons point totals. It's basically just Buffalo and Carolina at the bottom and even Carolina seems to be picking things up with Ward playing well again.

 

[L K]

I think Ted Nolan continues to get overrated as a coach too.  I mean he's done some nice things with crappy teams but I think the awful nature of that Islanders team was overblown.  Absolutely NOT a good team, but a lot of guys who were hard-hat players along with a few enigmatic skill guys (Yashin, Satan).  He also had a healthy and pretty good goaltender in DiPietro.

I found his Buffalo team to be very similar.  A lot of hard-working players buoyed by a fantastic goaltender in Hasek. 

I've never really been a fan of him to be honest. There have certainly been a lot of worse coaches, and some of them had better opportunities than him but I feel like he complains an awful lot about how hard done by he is a lot of the time and that is exactly part of his problem.  I mean could you imagine the crap storm if Carlyle started calling the team a pee-wee team? 

I mean, sure, they pretty much are that calibre of team, but a head coach absolutely can not act like that.  He's done it twice this year already.  There is zero way that he didn't see this kind of a rebuild coming.  The organization was a mess.  They don't have NHL ready players and they weren't going to add a bunch of stuff in the McDavid draft year. 

 

[CarltonTheBear]

So, this year's Avs are basically last year's Leafs, huh?

I was going to say how scary all the similarities have been between the Leafs 12-14 seasons and Colorado's past and current season, and then I saw that the Avs took it one step further:

Adrian Dater ‏@adater  11 minutes ago
John Mitchell will replace MacKinnon on a line with Landeskog and Iginla

JOHN MITCHELL IS THEIR FIRST LINE CENTRE

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

JOHN MITCHELL IS THEIR FIRST LINE CENTRE

For years the Leafs been looking for a first line centre, and they traded one away for a 7th rounder... 

And they drafted Viktor Loov with that 7th rounder. 

 

[Kin]

I've never really been a fan of him to be honest. There have certainly been a lot of worse coaches, and some of them had better opportunities than him but I feel like he complains an awful lot about how hard done by he is a lot of the time and that is exactly part of his problem.  I mean could you imagine the crap storm if Carlyle started calling the team a pee-wee team? 

I mean, sure, they pretty much are that calibre of team, but a head coach absolutely can not act like that.  He's done it twice this year already.  There is zero way that he didn't see this kind of a rebuild coming.  The organization was a mess.  They don't have NHL ready players and they weren't going to add a bunch of stuff in the McDavid draft year.

I think you sort of have to put your normal assumptions about coaching and motivation aside when you're trying to look at what Nolan is doing. I mean, you're right, he almost certainly had to know that the Sabres weren't going to be good enough to be winning a lot of games this year. So if that's the case, and more to the point if that's sort of by-design, then I think the question becomes what the team actually wants to see from him and from the team.

I think, for instance, that it's pretty telling that they're keeping Grigorenko away from the big club despite the fact that he's probably good enough on skill to be there right now. I mean, this isn't just a bad team, this is a bad team with only a handful of regular players under 25 and and only a couple under 23 so it's not even like the development of key prospects or players who figure to be key components when the team does rebuid is a real consideration right now.

I don't know what the right thing for a coach to do is in an environment like that. I do know, though, that right now the Sabres are asking an awful lot out of the people paying money to watch them play and if nothing else I think those people are probably owed a little bit of honesty from the organization at the very least.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

I think Ted Nolan continues to get overrated as a coach too.  I mean he's done some nice things with crappy teams but I think the awful nature of that Islanders team was overblown.  Absolutely NOT a good team, but a lot of guys who were hard-hat players along with a few enigmatic skill guys (Yashin, Satan).  He also had a healthy and pretty good goaltender in DiPietro.

I found his Buffalo team to be very similar.  A lot of hard-working players buoyed by a fantastic goaltender in Hasek. 

I've never really been a fan of him to be honest. There have certainly been a lot of worse coaches, and some of them had better opportunities than him but I feel like he complains an awful lot about how hard done by he is a lot of the time and that is exactly part of his problem.  I mean could you imagine the crap storm if Carlyle started calling the team a pee-wee team? 

I mean, sure, they pretty much are that calibre of team, but a head coach absolutely can not act like that.  He's done it twice this year already.  There is zero way that he didn't see this kind of a rebuild coming.  The organization was a mess.  They don't have NHL ready players and they weren't going to add a bunch of stuff in the McDavid draft year.

But he's arguably never even had a 'very good' roster to coach.

 

[Madferret]

Nice move by the Habs picking up Gonch for basically nothing...he may be old but he still has more to offer than Moen

 

[bustaheims]

Nice move by the Habs picking up Gonch for basically nothing...he may be old but he still has more to offer than Moen

That's debatable. Neither really has much to offer at this point. What Gonchar really offers is a contract that ends after this season.

 

[Madferret]

Nice move by the Habs picking up Gonch for basically nothing...he may be old but he still has more to offer than Moen

That's debatable. Neither really has much to offer at this point. What Gonchar really offers is a contract that ends after this season.

An expiring contract and he can still run a PP. There's no debate. Who would you rather?

 

[hockeyfan1]

_Kings beat the Ducks 3-2 in OT on a nice tip in by Jaret Stoll.

 

[bustaheims]

An expiring contract and he can still run a PP. There's no debate. Who would you rather?

Well, whether he can run a PP is also debatable. Dallas is a team that doesn't have a lot of defensive depth and they still were willing to basically give him away. What does that tell you? I'd rather have neither. I think they're both equally useless right now. The expiring contract is a plus, but, it's negated by the fact that he comes with more than double the cap hit this season.

 

[Madferret]

An expiring contract and he can still run a PP. There's no debate. Who would you rather?

Well, whether he can run a PP is also debatable. Dallas is a team that doesn't have a lot of defensive depth and they still were willing to basically give him away. What does that tell you? I'd rather have neither. I think they're both equally useless right now. The expiring contract is a plus, but, it's negated by the fact that he comes with more than double the cap hit this season.

If we're debating the trade you can't pick neither!

 

[bustaheims]

If we're debating the trade you can't pick neither!

Of course I can. They're equally useless. I wouldn't prefer either over the other. Therefore, I'd rather neither. The only real question is whether or not I'd prefer the cap space now or in the future, and, honestly, there's merit to both sides, and I think both sides made decisions that are contrary to their current needs. The Habs would be better served having the cap space to improve at the deadline, whereas the Stars would be better served having the money come off the cap in the summer.

 

[Madferret]

Gonchar played 20 minutes against the Bruins (W 5-1) and 15 minutes tonight against Philly (W 6-3). He had 2 pts tonight. He is running one of the Habs PP units. I hate the Habs too but it doesn't take a Joe Juneau to realize they're going to get more out of Gonchar then the Stars will get out of Moen. You won't suddenly combust into a ball of fire by admitting that you know - it's safe!

 

[bustaheims]

Gonchar played 20 minutes against the Bruins (W 5-1) and 15 minutes tonight against Philly (W 6-3). He had 2 pts tonight. He is running one of the Habs PP units. I hate the Habs too but it doesn't take a Joe Juneau to realize they're going to get more out of Gonchar then the Stars will get out of Moen. You won't suddenly combust into a ball of fire by admitting that you know - it's safe!

It's been two games. They could very easily be the best games he plays in a Habs uniform. I think both teams involved made a bad trade, not just the Habs.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

http://espn.go.com/blog/nhl/post/_/id/33250/chris-pronger-eligible-for-hockey-hall-of-fame-in-2015-after-rule-clarification

Like...this guy is retired in every way except for any way it might hurt the Flyers.

EDIT: Couldn't elect Burns during his lifetime though.