Goon Posted January 18, 2004 Posted January 18, 2004 There is no doubt Roche has the skills to play in the NHL. I agree with sprig on the fact that the wild play such a defensive style and Lemaire doesn't like dmen who like to jump up on the play and take chances. There are plenty of teams around the league who actually let their defensemen take some chances, and some of these teams even score more than two goals a game, unlike the Wild. I hope Roche finds a team where he fits in and uses his experiences with Minnesota and their organization to work a little harder and crack a lineup elsewhere. I never understood the logic why the coach of the Wild doesn't like a free wheeling defenseman on the point. Actually the Wild are hard to watch this year and they just got their 14th tie tonight, a record since the NHL went to the 4on4 over time. I shudder to think how many ties they wil have by the end of the season. Maybe if they had a free wheeling defenseman like Roche they could win a few more of these games. Because the Wild are hurting for goals this season. Quote
Fifth Line Posted January 18, 2004 Posted January 18, 2004 I never understood the logic why the coach of the Wild doesn't like a free wheeling defenseman on the point. Actually the Wild are hard to watch this year and they just got their 14th tie tonight, a record since the NHL went to the 4on4 over time. I shudder to think how many ties they wil have by the end of the season. Maybe if they had a free wheeling defenseman like Roche they could win a few more of these games. Because the Wild are hurting for goals this season. I don't know if it was his free wheeling that got him sent down. Cliff Ronning used to take over this role on power plays for the Wild last year so you would think having a defensmen instead of a forward be able to handle this role would be beneficial for the team. I watched every game that Travis played including preseason and I have to say I agree with the decision to send him down. He is very talented and should and will probably get another shot with another team. His play was a lot like Bouchard's rookie season where he suffered from a somewhat awe of the situation that he was in and tentitive play for fear of making mistakes. You how when you are trying so hard to not mess up that it causes you to mess up twice as much. Travis had a lot of turnovers and was just not getting the job done physically. He needs to bring his play up to the level of "I've been here before". I do think that Lemuire gave Bouchard more of an opportunity to work through those bugs his first season. You can tell the difference in his play this year by having the "I'm going to get sent to the minors if I play bad" monkey off his back. Quote
dagies Posted January 19, 2004 Posted January 19, 2004 My issue isn't that Roche necessarily was playing well enough to stay, but the Wild were crying for offensive output from their D corps and Travis only played sporadically. The little I did see him play I thought he looked a bit tentative but then he'd had few games to get used to what he was doing. I just don't think he had a good chance to get comfortable. At the same time I'm willing to accept he may not have done what he needed to to be given that chance. That is my suspicion given the short shot he seemed to get. Quote
Fifth Line Posted January 19, 2004 Posted January 19, 2004 I think we are saying the same thing daggies. Your point couldn't be any more precise on the lack of defensive scoring. Quote
PhillySioux Posted January 23, 2004 Posted January 23, 2004 More weekend excitement. If Belfour gets the W on Saturday he ties Tony Esposito for fourth on the all-time win list. (423) Not too shabby. Quote
PhillySioux Posted January 26, 2004 Posted January 26, 2004 Congrats Eddie! "Toronto goalie Ed Belfour made 14 saves to tie Tony Espositio for fourth place on the career victory list with 423. Belfour is 423-276-110 in 16 seasons with Chicago, San Jose, Dallas and Toronto. Patrick Roy tops the list with 551 victories." Quote
CoteauRinkRat Posted January 26, 2004 Posted January 26, 2004 I wonder how many more seasons Eddie will play in the league. Quote
schmidtdoggydog Posted February 1, 2004 Author Posted February 1, 2004 I don't know if it has been posted yet, but the Flames recalled Commodore on Saturday. Quote
sioux fan in phoenix Posted February 1, 2004 Posted February 1, 2004 I wonder how many more seasons Eddie will play in the league. Maybe he'll stick around like Gordie Howe & be playing into his 50's Quote
redwing77 Posted February 1, 2004 Posted February 1, 2004 I had a dream last night that Karl got called up for a game against the Wild. The XCel Energy Center immediately sold out and Sioux jerseys were everywhere. Karl of course wore the number 1 and shut down the Wild 2-0. He faced 40 shots in total during the game. The place went nuts of course. I woke up this morning and realized it was just a dream Quote
schmidtdoggydog Posted February 1, 2004 Author Posted February 1, 2004 I had a dream last night that Karl got called up for a game against the Wild. The XCel Energy Center immediately sold out and Sioux jerseys were everywhere. Karl of course wore the number 1 and shut down the Wild 2-0. He faced 40 shots in total during the game. The place went nuts of course. I woke up this morning and realized it was just a dream You dream about men? Quote
Diggler Posted February 2, 2004 Posted February 2, 2004 Karl is lucky he wasn't playing the Isles or Mapletoft would've got a natural hat trick. Quote
Goon Posted February 2, 2004 Posted February 2, 2004 I wonder how many more seasons Eddie will play in the league. Isn't eddie 37 years old? I would say probably not too many more, however, Mark MessyHair is still playing for NYR and he is like 42 years old. So who knows? Quote
schmidtdoggydog Posted February 3, 2004 Author Posted February 3, 2004 Here is a good article about Belfour from last week. By Darren Pang Special to ESPN.com Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Ed Belfour passed the great Tony Esposito with his 424th win on Saturday. Coincidentally, he tied Espo on Jan. 24 with a 4-1 win in Montreal, the same team Tony broke into the NHL with and helped to a Stanley Cup. I first saw Ed Belfour play during training camp with the Chicago Blackhawks in 1987. He was a heralded free-agent signee out of the University of North Dakota, fresh off leading the Fighting Sioux to the NCAA title. I had already been a pro for three seasons, having played in Milwaukee, Saginaw and Nova Scotia. The Hawks had also drafted Jimmy Waite in the first round and signed Bob Mason to a very large deal from the Washington Capitals. Needless to say, camp was a bit crowded. I knew Mason's game from watching him play so brilliantly in a quadruple-OT loss to the New York Islanders in Game 7 of the division semifinals and I had an idea about Waite from reports I'd heard. I was curious about Belfour, though. He wasn't the most gregarious person I had ever met. He didn't say anything, in fact. He showed up at the rink with a frown on his face and always looked like he had overslept, his hair all over the place. We were doing drills with goalie coach Wayne Thomas prior to the main camp and Belfour wasn't doing so well with the "X", "Y" and "Z" drills that are staples to the foundation of movement in the crease for any aged goalie, let alone one that would be trying to play in the NHL. He got frustrated. He worked his tail off, be he was sour. He was cursing. "This Thomas guy & where did he ever play?" he said to me. I told him that Wayne was a nine-year NHL veteran, had played for the Canadiens, Leafs and Rangers and had been coaching since he retired in 1981. Didn't matter. Eddie wasn't buying what Thomas was selling. But there was something about Eddie. I wasn't convinced he was any good, technically, I mean. He gave up goals on the short side too often and he had these gaping holes between his body and his arms. In fact, he looked like he wanted to be a middle linebacker on ice. He hiked his jersey up over the back of his pants and had a green piece of fabric attached to them. I found out later it was from his NCAA championship pants. He battled players in his crease. He wouldn't give in, nor would he give up. I figured he might play 10 games in the NHL and that was JUST about it. He wouldn't make it with his stubbornness and lack of patience in the net. What did I know? "Tony O" was one of Eddie's heroes while growing up in Carmen, Manitoba. In fact, he won a school contest with a fabulous drawing of the left-handed butterfly goalie. His agent and great friend, Ron Salcer, had a painting done of Tony and Eddie, both in the Hawks jerseys in similar poses. Ron told me last night that Ed Belfour is as dedicated, as intense and committed as any athlete he has ever been associated with, and it's that feistiness that has put Belfour in this position. I have often said that Belfour is married to his position. He had spend nights sleeping in the old Chicago Stadium, as he tried to sharpen his skates or tweak his equipment following a loss or a game he didn't like. He developed a blade that could be removed in a minute and replaced with another during the game if he lost an edge. He financed the project and I'm sure drove his trainers to the loony in the process. The goalie that you see today, technically, isn't the same one who broke into the NHL while I was playing. He is efficient, patient and doesn't get caught up in everything that is going on around him. He is more like his friend, Vladislav Tretiak, who really shaped Belfour's style (and is the reason he wears No. 20). Belfour will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. He wants to play more hockey. He plans on keeping himself in top shape through a work stoppage, if there is one. Don't be surprised if Belfour stays in Toronto; he enjoys playing for Pat Quinn and calls him his perfect coach. Quote
sioux fan in phoenix Posted February 3, 2004 Posted February 3, 2004 Thanks for sharing that, schmidt. Doesn't sound like brown-nosing & conformity were in Eddie's vocabulary. Being able to maintain his individuality & not trying to score brownie points with the coaching staff takes a big set, imo, especially when you're a rookie. I admire that in a person... Quote
dagies Posted February 3, 2004 Posted February 3, 2004 A little press for Spiewak and Notermann: http://www.hockeysfuture.com/article.php?s...hreaded&order=0 Quote
Goon Posted February 4, 2004 Posted February 4, 2004 Jason Blake is second on his team in scoring with 16g-18a=34 points. Also, Jason is a +11. Not too shabby. Something I didn't know was this is Jason's 6 year of professional hockey. I didn't realize it has been this long. Quote
jojordan23 Posted February 4, 2004 Posted February 4, 2004 Well, let's see... Blake's last year at UND ended against BC when the seniors were shut out of the scoring column, and that was in 1999. He left school right away, sigining the free agent deal with the Kings(?). So then there was 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, and now in 2004. That is 6 different years that he has been a pro, but seasons start in the fall... so 98-99, 99-00, 00-01, 01-02, 02-03, 03-04, and that still makes 6! Wow, has it really been that long? Quote
CoteauRinkRat Posted February 4, 2004 Posted February 4, 2004 Well, let's see... Blake's last year at UND ended against BC when the seniors were shut out of the scoring column, and that was in 1999. He left school right away, sigining the free agent deal with the Kings(?). So then there was 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, and now in 2004. That is 6 different years that he has been a pro, but seasons start in the fall... so 98-99, 99-00, 00-01, 01-02, 02-03, 03-04, and that still makes 6! Wow, has it really been that long? thanks for the math lecture Quote
Goon Posted February 4, 2004 Posted February 4, 2004 thanks for the math lecture I agree I suck at math. Thanks for the lession. Quote
dagies Posted February 4, 2004 Posted February 4, 2004 I agree I suck at math. Thanks for the lession. Well, that and spelling... Quote
#1GreeneFan Posted February 6, 2004 Posted February 6, 2004 David Hale's out with another injury. A knee injury this time. http://www.nj.com/devils/ledger/index.ssf?...96500097160.xml Quote
Goon Posted February 6, 2004 Posted February 6, 2004 Well, that and spelling... Your right Dagies I can't spell and I really honestly wish there was a spell check on this site, Oh well life goes on and I still like beer... Quote
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