2015-2016 NHL Thread

[Heroic Shrimp]

So.... what exactly is the deal with Mike Commodore?

 

[herman]

So.... what exactly is the deal with Mike Commodore?

This was from Dec 2013:
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/mike-commodore-rips-mike-babcock-claims-columbus-coach-162609059--nhl.html

"They offered me a one-year deal worth one million. My gut was screaming: ?Don't take it, you've got one chance, if it doesn't go well, you're done in the NHL!?
?I told my agent: ?I don't want to play in Detroit for Mike Babcock, I don't trust him. Call him back and tell him thank you, we'll get back to you.?
"My agent then told me the GM put a 15-minute time limit on the offer. I needed to make up my mind in 15 minutes or he was gonna pull the offer off the table. This was July 1st, free agency had just started 10 minutes prior. I called the GM and told him: ?Ken, Mike Commodore here, I like you, you're a good guy. Is it you who wants me or the coach?? Ken Holland said that he wanted me and so did Babcock. So I told him that I would love to play for Ken, and I would love to play for the red wings, but that I didn't trust the coach from previous experience. So I called the coach, by now I had 10 minutes left.
"I called him: ?Babs, Mike Commodore here. Please be honest with me, do you want me on your hockey team or not?? He said he did. I wanted to know if I?d get an opportunity. I told him I am not looking for anything special, but that I needed to know if I was gonna get a fair shot and a chance to play. He said ?I want you on my team. You will get a fair chance. We need someone physical on the back end with a right shot. I want you. You will play.?
?I hung up the phone, five minutes left. My gut screamed ?Say No!? This coach screwed me over nine years ago. He buried me in the paper after I had a good camp in Anaheim. He buried me so I would look bad so he could then play his boy from juniors who was an undrafted rookie at camp that year ... Kurt Sauer. Six years later when I finally had a chance to take a shot back at him publicly I did so in the paper when I was in Columbus. But then I started to think about Detroit, a good team, always makes the playoffs, get to play with great players, and about maybe getting the opportunity. So I took Mike Babcock's word and I signed the contract, thirty minutes into free agency. I signed the [expletive] contract faster than when I was a ?hot commodity? four years earlier. I was one of the first players gone that year in free agency. Off the board July 1st.
?I went to camp in Detroit, and got scratched out. I did injure my knee a bit so I missed couple of days in camp and the first four games. I got back as if it was nothing major. I came back, and the team won its first five games. I got scratched, but okay, the team was winning. We lost seven in a row, then I wasn?t even close to playing. Scratch, scratch.
?Finally, it was mid-November, Ian White got a puck to the face and was going to miss a week, we went on a road trip. A four-game road trip, and I thought to myself that this was my chance. I played three games, no two games, I think, three minutes a night? The only time I touched the ice was when the fourth line was on, and the faceoff was in the neutral zone. I was opening the doors for Lidstr?m, that?s all I was doing, being a cheerleader.
?Bab then met with me, said he was calling up guys from minors, and scratched me until Christmas. Then the GM forced the coach to play me; I played fifteen games, I fought, I played the best I could with the ice time I was getting. And then I got traded (to Tampa) because Ken Holland felt bad. ?

 

[CarltonTheBear]

?Finally, it was mid-November, Ian White got a puck to the face and was going to miss a week, we went on a road trip. A four-game road trip, and I thought to myself that this was my chance. I played three games, no two games, I think, three minutes a night? The only time I touched the ice was when the fourth line was on, and the faceoff was in the neutral zone. I was opening the doors for Lidstr?m, that?s all I was doing, being a cheerleader.

Some quick fact-checking: Commodore played 3 games in November for Detroit that season. Played 10:57, 13:06, and 6:40. So low for a defenceman but not 3 minutes a night. And in that 3rd game St. Louis took 6 penalties, including a 5-minute major penalty so obviously his ice-time was low since he doesn't play on the powerplay.

It should also be noted that after finishing that season with Tampa he came an unrestricted free agent and couldn't sign with another NHL team. And that was despite being only 32 years old.

So what's the deal with Mike Commodore? He was a bad defenceman and Babcock played/treated him like one. He's also someone whose publicly trashed his coach before for inane reasons.

 

[bustaheims]

So what's the deal with Mike Commodore? He was a bad defenceman and Babcock played/treated him like one. He's also someone whose publicly trashed his coach before for inane reasons.

Basically. He's a guy who is bitter about the way his career ended, and is placing the blame on everyone and everything but himself and his lack of ability to keep up with the pace of the game/limited skill set.

 

[herman]

So what's the deal with Mike Commodore? He was a bad defenceman and Babcock played/treated him like one. He's also someone whose publicly trashed his coach before for inane reasons.

Basically. He's a guy who is bitter about the way his career ended, and is placing the blame on everyone and everything but himself and his lack of ability to keep up with the pace of the game/limited skill set.

Ding ding ding. Thanks for the additional fact-check, Carlton.

From that same article, this is what MC said about his CBJ coach:

?I'm very disappointed with how my last year in Columbus went and with my year in Detroit. I feel I was treated piss poor; I was thrown off the team in Columbus because I was single and I was making a lot of money. The coach was jealous because he played a lot of years, he had a wife and kids and he felt he didn't earn a lot of money so he booted me off the team. The next year he started doing the same to Derick Brassard but he got fired before he could finish it.?

His vitriol was sort of surprising when it cropped up last week. After reading some of his previous remarks, it's less surprising, and much harder to take those remarks as authoritative.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Pittsburgh just had a Malkin-Crosby-Kessel line out late in a 3-2 game against the Habs. They didn't score but it was still amazing.

 

[hockeyfan1]

Connor McDavid scores his first NHL goal (against Dallas):

http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?id=846260&catid=35

 

[hockeyfan1]

Bruins surveying trade value of Chara & Marchand:

According to Joe Haggerty of CSSNE.com, who cites ?separate hockey sources,? the Bruins have engaged in recent trade discussions with other NHL teams regarding defenceman Zdeno Chara and forward Brad Marchand, among other players.

In just three games, not seen since 1965-'66, Boston has allowed 16 goals and a goal differential of minus 9.

More:
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/boston-bruins-trade-report-zdeno-chara-brad-marchand-kicking-tires-rebuild-lucic-hamilton-claude-julien/

 

[AvroArrow]

Pittsburgh just had a Malkin-Crosby-Kessel line out late in a 3-2 game against the Habs. They didn't score but it was still amazing.

It's early, but they need to get their **** together.  I want that first.

On the Kessel side, 1G 1A in 3 games so far.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Pittsburgh just had a Malkin-Crosby-Kessel line out late in a 3-2 game against the Habs. They didn't score but it was still amazing.

It's early, but they need to get their **** together.  I want that first.

On the Kessel side, 1G 1A in 3 games so far.

Don't worry, they play the Leafs soon.

 

[Boston Leaf]

Bruins surveying trade value of Chara & Marchand:

According to Joe Haggerty of CSSNE.com, who cites ?separate hockey sources,? the Bruins have engaged in recent trade discussions with other NHL teams regarding defenceman Zdeno Chara and forward Brad Marchand, among other players.

In just three games, not seen since 1965-'66, Boston has allowed 16 goals and a goal differential of minus 9.

More:
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/boston-bruins-trade-report-zdeno-chara-brad-marchand-kicking-tires-rebuild-lucic-hamilton-claude-julien/

Bruins are a mess and I love it.. so far this year without and All Star defense in front of him Rask looks very average. Small window this year but still

 

[Kin]

Man, nobody tell the Coyotes that they should be going for Matthews.

 

[Boston Leaf]

Maybe Columbus wants him.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Man, nobody tell the Coyotes that they should be going for Matthews.

Awesome, better odds for us!

 

[ZBBM]

Bruins surveying trade value of Chara & Marchand:

According to Joe Haggerty of CSSNE.com, who cites ?separate hockey sources,? the Bruins have engaged in recent trade discussions with other NHL teams regarding defenceman Zdeno Chara and forward Brad Marchand, among other players.

In just three games, not seen since 1965-'66, Boston has allowed 16 goals and a goal differential of minus 9.

More:
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/boston-bruins-trade-report-zdeno-chara-brad-marchand-kicking-tires-rebuild-lucic-hamilton-claude-julien/

Bruins are a mess and I love it.. so far this year without and All Star defense in front of him Rask looks very average. Small window this year but still

I wonder if they'd consider moving either Rask or Subban if they go full-on blowup.

 

[bustaheims]

I wonder if they'd consider moving either Rask or Subban if they go full-on blowup.

Moving Subban would be more about finding immediate help - which I think is a very distinct possibility for them. As for Rask . . . could really go either way. He's young enough that they could keep him around and hope for a shorter turnaround, but he'd also have a lot of value and stands in the way of bottoming out. Coin-flip there. Depends on how they do this season, I imagine.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

I think the one thing we know about the Bruins for sure is that whichever route they take their current management team will probably screw it up anyway.

 

[ZBBM]

I think the one thing we know about the Bruins for sure is that whichever route they take their current management team will probably screw it up anyway.

I can't imagine how we could get one or the other but I sure would like to.

 

[bustaheims]

I can't imagine how we could get one or the other but I sure would like to.

Probably a no on Rask. He'd cost pieces the Leafs have no interest in moving. Subban . . . maybe. If the Bruins were interested in JvR, Subban would be a piece the Leafs would probably ask for.

 

[Zee]

Is Subban projected to be a star #1?