redwing77

Pass the Kool-Aid. First off, Goon, I just got back from Israel and I ate plenty of swarma. But then again, I knew what was in it. Now.... I think we should all take a moment of silence to mourn Zach Parise's offensive future with the Devils. It's dead, Jim. The Devils will now employ the same 5 D an 1 G gameplan the Mild employed for the last 9 years and enjoy a simply outstandingly mediocre regular season and be pretty much first round exits. I pray for Zajac to require more than the Devils will allow so that the Devils employ the "walk away" option. Then Zajac can go to a team that will again value offense.

Then don't watch WCHA hockey. That's their MO.

The coaches see it. They openly praised Fienhage on several occasions, whether he played that night or otherwise (IIRC). And I agree with the overheated one in AZSioux (114 deg F... criminitly!) that it is indeed good to have someone like Hill on the team. But I think Fienhage has the inside track on regular play.

Perhaps it falls to transition game being the key for the Wild? That's one of the areas that the Penguins excelled at...and Fletcher is from the Pens organization. Leddy is a puck mover and a good one. He may also be more mature than Schroeder. And with an unavoidable youth movement coming the way of the Wild (at least that's what I feel), maturity is an important thing for the Wild. The bad news is that I doubt Leddy will play for the Gophers for more than 2 seasons, especially if what I predict does come true (youth movement). If Leddy shows Ballard or Martin-like ability, it may not even be two seasons.

I don't like either players. Peope berate Bochenski and others for being bad skaters, but Earl wrote the book on bad skating. Or at least that was the reasoning UW hockey commentators gave on why Earl is so easily upended. I also don't care much for Earl's ethics. That being said, I'll stand by my claim is that Earl will continue to get spot duty in the NHL as injuries at the NHL level demand it. He'll never stick in the NHL. Irmen... I don't know. I've not heard good things about Minnesota Wild's development in terms of their AHL affiliate. Maybe I'm mistaken though. I thought Irmen was a decent player. To his credit he wasn't prone to diving and he played a relatively clean game. I doubt Irmen has a worse ethic than Earl. It's a shame Irmen will probably never see the NHL, but that's how it goes. The same is true of Bochenski. He'll never see the NHL again. For good or bad, that's how it is. I cannot predict the future, but that's what I believe anyways. Take it for what it's worth.

Little wiggle room? With whom? McLeod? He doesn't have the balls to hold Shepherd accountable. Shepherd? There's no motivation for him to do so since his boss doesn't have the balls to hold him accountable. Even if McLeod locates the balls, Shepherd in all likelihood doesn't have the system of accountability to enforce any heavy handed rule that is created. He's everyone's friend, after all. And friend's don't break the balls of friends, right? I mean, see the Ford family in how they handled Matt Millen. See Gene Taylor and his relationship with Kevin McHale. It's the SAME THING. The only way to truly enforce any crackdowns is to crackdown on the people who routinely don't enforce it. That means Shepherd and McLeod. From there, the new regime can evaluate the current stock of officials and make changes as necessary. The poor new regime will have to deal with the utter mess that is WCHA officiating though they won't have to change much in the way of policy in general. They can't fire everyone who needs dismissal or they'll be unable to put enough officials on the ice to maintain at least SOME semblence of quality. In my (dream) scenario, the new regime finds a way to keep everyone around and simply replace those who don't belong at the end of every season in a gradual turnover. The first two out would undoubtedly be Don Adam and perhaps Todd Anderson. Like I said, my (dream) scenario is to have the new Head of officials be someone who has NHL officiating experience or, even (if it is possible) someone who works with the NHL's Head of Officials (such as the Assistant Head of Officials if such a position exists). Remember, we view the WCHA to be an elite conference in Amateur hockey. However, last season, two USHL officials made their NHL officiating debuts. If that's the case, then why didn't the WCHA try to nab them before the NHL did? Maybe they wouldn't have been able to woo them to the WCHA, but we need to get into the game of developing officials that have a reputation beyond that of what we think of when we think of the current WCHA officiating staff.

I don't eat anything I can't understand. Lavosh? Seriously... I won't eat it since I have to look up what on earth that is. Besides, what's wrong with a taco on flatbread? Or perhaps a taco gyro?

I'd be happy for Bruce. It's odd, but I had Bruce and Michael mixed up. P.S. I never heard Oshie as a questionable skater.

I didn't mind Ruth Chris at all, actually. It was very good. But then again, Ruth Chris is pricey. I go to Texas Roadhouse because it's more affordable. Omaha has some great steakhouses, but you'll pay for the honor. Usually to the tune of $34-$50 for the same cut of steak (KC/NY Strip)

That assumes an awful lot. Truth be told, yes, that's true... assuming both officials are: A. Competent B. Working together All too often we faced one or even both officials having questionable competence and many more times where officials didn't work together. It's almost like the comedic schtick that has both guys pointing at each other saying "I thought you were going to call it." "No, I thought you were." Or "You didn't call it so I didn't call it." Yes, a 2 official system does decrease obstruction. But again, it also assumes that the head office wants a consistent crack down on that. The WCHA is notorious for simply stopping the consistent calling of whatever crackdown they say they are going to crack down on approximately half way through the season and claiming that the drop off is due to the league simply being so good they don't commit those penalties anymore. Sicatoka -- This thread is worn out. Expecting accountability out of the WCHA front office is like expecting George W. Bush to win a Nobel Prize in Astrophysics. It's just not going to happen... at least not with this leadership.

You know, Earl is the one true success of Eaves that I can think of off the top of my head. He convinced Toronto that he was worth signing. It flies in the face of what was stated about Cichy: A good college player doesn't necessarily mean a good pro player. Earl was decent in college but has done nothing in the pros. I still project him to get some NHL time, but he'll forever be a bubble player or, at best, the 13th forward and healthy scratch.

Comon dagies... you know we need to rail on players for SOMETHING! But yeah, I hope so too. I'm pretty sure Cichy won't be the fastest player on his line even.

Good point.

Add him as someone we're interested in, you mean? The link only says that we're one of several. However, my hunch says he goes to UNO. Why? 1. His first visit was to UW (unofficial) and that's it. He now knows what's going on with UW Madison and is probably going to be steered away. 2. UNO is now headed by a great head coach and is in a position that they'd benefit more from McCabe than UW or even the others mentioned. It's not that he wouldn't be good on the other teams mentioned, it's just that he probably would have a bigger impact sooner on UNO's team than on others. 3. Most importantly, his older brother is going to be a freshman there this fall. He'll go to UNO. If not there, then who knows.

No doubt. Seriously, he transfers to UW from SLU, where, had he stayed, he'd still be getting regular game time.... for what? Now he hangs up his skates. Can't understand that really. Why not just transfer somewhere within the UW system and play DIII hockey? Or transfer again to somewhere like NMU, MTU, or perhaps another Michigan school would be interested? Oh well. Just a tragic circumstance for a mess.

Hill is 6'3" and 197 pounds. He's a little on the light side at that height, but he's not a small defenseman. Question is, can he skate? I'd really like him to gain some weight. Maybe come in at 205-220 range.

I don't know. Heisenberg has had Forney coming back to UND for longer than this issue has been raised and yet Brad Schlossman hasn't heard anything. If Brad hasn't reported it, then I'm inclined to believe it is still very much in the air.

When I click on it, it comes up like a response tree of sorts like an email conversation ala Google Mail. Is that supposed to happen? EDIT: I guess it is happening to every thread now.

Sorry. Wrong sport. Drew is the guy I'm thinking of. As per Gaborik: OK OK!!!! I just thought having a more offensive minded system would benefit Gaborik! SHEESH!

Ok, his line is that he's 6'3 197 and he's 21. So.... this sounds like a recruited walk on. At least that's what it sounds like to me.

Not sure about that. Lemaire's system was defense first and the rest shall come. Gaborik's game doesn't translate into that. Detroit's game style isn't that way either. Gaborik will thrive in an arena that allows him to play to a system that better fits his playing style instead of a boring defensive system like Lemaire's. That being said, I doubt Gaborik ever plays a full season without injury. Goon- Havlat was pretty clutch for the Hawks. But he is streaky. He's not Alexei Kovalev (which is a good thing). Kovalev seems to be a $10 talent with a 10 cent head. As for agents, well, I'm not sure there are many good agents out there. Their job is to get their clients (and themselves) the most money possible. And that includes all the publicity circuses. I despise Scott Boras and whatever that other one is whose name for some reason I can't remember...from baseball, but I understand what they are doing even if it is wrong.

Why can't we be surprised? For once, I'd like to be surprised! Seriously, I'm THAT bored.

There's a viable reason as to why the Wild passed on him. They don't need another overhyped fringe shooter. Bouchard is good, but not great. He's not a first liner on any team in the NHL. He's so not physical that he can't be a third liner. He's too good to sit or send to the AHL. So that leaves 2nd and 4th lines. I'd love to see the Wild have enough offensive talent to have Bouchard on the 4th line. As for Schroeder, Sagard is right. Is he gritty enough? Can he crash the net? Time will tell.

Perhaps, but I don't think Gaborik's game translated well to Lemaire's system and I think that contributed to the injury problems more than anything. I think the Rangers will allow Gaborik to play his game and he won't have to put himself in such positions that got him injured (or at least set him up for them).

Good news Wild fans: The Wild signed a player that would NEVER have been signed by Risebrough/Lemaire in Martin Havlat today. They also signed Greg Zanon who will be just another middle of the road defenseman, but that's not bad either. You have to be happy that at least the Wild are going after players that they'd normally wouldn't get. They did miss the boat on quite a bit of players that would have helped. WOW Montreal was busy. Chicago now really only has two ?'s: Youth and goaltending. They don't really need to do much with the first one, but I still think they could have used a goaltender...but again, who? Rangers got Gaborik. Mark my words: If he can avoid the injury bug, he'll score more than he ever did with the Wild within two seasons with NYR. The Wild still need a few more goal scorers. They missed the boat on Gionta and Cammalleri. I'd say take a flyer on Nik Antropov or perhaps a Mike Comrie, and perhaps a few of the unproven wingers that have names to them.... like a Luca Cereda (Don't know him but he was a 1st rounder), or someone. Maybe get a journeyman like Fedotenko or Afinogenov.