Hockey

[pedaling squares]

Sam Gagner has incredible hands, unfortunately matched with a pair of slow feet. You really need great wheels to be an undersized skill player. I loved his 8 point night, one of those games where he everything he touched turned to gold. And he was in on 11 straight Oiler goals, just amazing stuff. He can be useful as a 2nd line guy on the young Oiler team or as trade bait to help them shore up their defence.

 

[VeloCity]

What does everyone think about Gagner's 8 point night? IMO, pretty amazing, especially with the low scoring in this era. Considering he followed it up with a 3 point night, maybe he will really start to step up. He has an amazng set of hands on him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeUtDzCtXXQ

Well not to throw cold water on it all, but he didn't deserve an assist on (I think it was) the third goal. Two Hawks players played the puck before the Oiler dude scored, yet they gave Gagner the assist anyway. Even so, 7 points would still be a remarkable accomplishment.

I'd hate to see the Oilers trade him, I think he's just a late bloomer, plus he's had all kinds of bad luck. With Gagner, Nugent-Hopkins, Hall, Eberle, Paajarvi, Omark, the Oil would be set up-front for years to come. Shame Hemsky's not working out, but he'd be the guy to trade, along with Hordichuk and Eager. Now if they could just find a long-term goalie and a defenseman or three

 

[scullster46]

Sam Gagner has incredible hands, unfortunately matched with a pair of slow feet. You really need great wheels to be an undersized skill player. I loved his 8 point night, one of those games where he everything he touched turned to gold. And he was in on 11 straight Oiler goals, just amazing stuff. He can be useful as a 2nd line guy on the young Oiler team or as trade bait to help them shore up their defence.

Another guy who had incredible hands and slow feet, Alexei Kovalev. He wasn't that much bigger than Gagner, he had 2 inches and 30 pounds on him I think. He didn't have a terrible career, though it could have been much much better.

 

[pedaling squares]

Another guy who had incredible hands and slow feet, Alexei Kovalev. He wasn't that much bigger than Gagner, he had 2 inches and 30 pounds on him I think. He didn't have a terrible career, though it could have been much much better.

I just loved watching Kovalev play... when he wanted to play. Those hands. Those freakin' hands! Lethal wrist shot, insane moves, he could anything he wanted. Therein lay the problem. His feet didn't let him down, his heart did. He just floated around most of the time, disinterested in the game. A coach's nightmare, and he took down a couple of them. But man, when he turned it on...

That guy could have been a Hall of Fame member, absolutely no question.

 

[palmerq]

after reading here i signed gagner and his lovely hands, another 2 goals for him,good work!

 

[VeloCity]

after reading here i signed gagner and his lovely hands, another 2 goals for him,good work!

In the last 4 games, the Oilers have scored 18 goals - Gagner has scored 8 of those and gotten a point (goal or assist) on 14 of the 18. That's incredible. Save maybe Gretzky or Lemieux in their prime, I don't remember ever seeing a player as hot as he is right now.

 

[palmerq]

I'm going to predict the carolina whalers are going to have a good season..

Sid in the 6th might be the steal of the draft. Well worth the risk.

and from the look of the news on yahoo crosby might be back soon great news!(for my team :S)

unfortunatley by the look of things the devils wont be getting anywhere near the play offs.. Kovalchuk tries but he is not on top form... and the rest of the team............

What do you guys think about mason raymond? I remember he was the canucks top goal scorer a couple of seasons ago... does anyone think he can come back or should I drop him.... errrr not that I am talking about the fantasy league again :S

ahhh welll my predictions have been a bit off this year :S crosby will be out for the rest of teh season for my fantasy team, I had mike smith then dropped him and the guy last week signed him up and he was on amazing form :S raymond was a dud aswell...


kovalchuk is on amazing form though.... hat trick last night and an assist... 3rd goal was a gift from parise though

 

[veganrob]

Go Wings!!!

Just had to say

 

[palmerq]

I have traded cam ward for datsyuk(or however you spell it) , I see pavel is out for a week or so but cam has been so shaky when I played him and I have luongo and Ilya as my other 2 goalies(I will have to pick up a goalie from the free transfers)... Does anyone think this is a good deal(for me obviously) or have I made a big mistake :S


yahoo fantasy hockey again btw :S

 

[VeloCity]

I have traded cam ward for datsyuk(or however you spell it) , I see pavel is out for a week or so but cam has been so shaky when I played him and I have luongo and Ilya as my other 2 goalies(I will have to pick up a goalie from the free transfers)... Does anyone think this is a good deal(for me obviously) or have I made a big mistake :S


yahoo fantasy hockey again btw :S

Don't think you can go wrong with Datsyuk, esp if your pool includes playoffs.

Man who'd a thought that the Jets would be atop their division (and third in the conference) this late into the season? True, the SE is the weakest division, but still.

 

[palmerq]

Don't think you can go wrong with Datsyuk, esp if your pool includes playoffs.

no it ends at the end of the regular season.. He's a bit injured though, hopefully it is not fatal... crosby is still missing for me... and koivu :S I am in a fairly good position to make the fantasy pool playoffs though so I just need the players to do well in the last 2 or 3 weeks of the season :S hopefully he is back by then... Now to find a free goalie, I had smith from phoenix and dropped him... what a genius I am...


I like how winnepeg are in the south east :S

 

[VeloCity]

no it ends at the end of the regular season.. He's a bit injured though, hopefully it is not fatal... crosby is still missing for me... and koivu :S I am in a fairly good position to make the fantasy pool playoffs though so I just need the players to do well in the last 2 or 3 weeks of the season :S hopefully he is back by then... Now to find a free goalie, I had smith from phoenix and dropped him... what a genius I am...

Might be a good time to get Bernier if you can - chances are good that he'll be traded before Monday and (I assume) he'll become the #1 goalie (ie more games) with something to prove (ie highly motivated) with his new team, esp if they're in the playoff hunt.

 

[palmerq]

Might be a good time to get Bernier if you can - chances are good that he'll be traded before Monday and (I assume) he'll become the #1 goalie (ie more games) with something to prove (ie highly motivated) with his new team, esp if they're in the playoff hunt.

who is bernier, the la guy? he is free.... you might be right that is a good idea, not many other guys availble, montoya and nabakov of the islanders are maybe the best(the rest are like mason of columbus and khabbibulin)..

Great plan mate , if it works out well I shall mention you in my victory speech in the fantasy pool :S

ps who would you pick gagner or lecavier.. I see lecavier has become free and I am number 1 in the waivers, seems to be a bit injured though

 

[pedaling squares]

Take Gagner over Lecavalier. Much better potential.
Of course, I told you that Crosby was a good 6th round pick too.
But if he hadn't been injured again, I would have been right!!!

 

[palmerq]

Take Gagner over Lecavalier. Much better potential.
Of course, I told you that Crosby was a good 6th round pick too.
But if he hadn't been injured again, I would have been right!!!

crosby was wonderfull for his 1st game back(unfortunatley they did not announce he was playing untill that day so I coudlnt activate him and didnt get his 2 goals)... Well I have dropped gagner for now hopefully lecavier will go on the ir soon and I will put him there and then resign gagner, he's been doing quite well so far I dont think anyone else playing the fantasy pool will be quick enough to steal gagner from me :S...

problem is I have 4 injured guys and 3 of them are dtd(koivu, datsyuk and not vincent) so I cant put them on ir so I am wasting some spots here.. so if vinny is not going to the ir then I have blundered big time again..

are the devils playing vancouver tonight at 7pm eastern?

 

[VeloCity]

who is bernier, the la guy? he is free.... you might be right that is a good idea, not many other guys availble, montoya and nabakov of the islanders are maybe the best(the rest are like mason of columbus and khabbibulin)..

Great plan mate , if it works out well I shall mention you in my victory speech in the fantasy pool :S

ps who would you pick gagner or lecavier.. I see lecavier has become free and I am number 1 in the waivers, seems to be a bit injured though

Bernier is LA's backup but many think he'd be a starter on another team. His name's being thrown out a lot in the trade rumors, and LA needs another D'man after trading Jack Johnson and lots of teams need a goalie for their playoff surge, so I wouldn't be suprised to see Bernier moved before the deadline. Nabokov is in the same boat - he's been mentioned going to Toronto, Chicago, a few other teams. IMHO Nabokov would be the safer choice but if he's not traded then you're stuck with him on a bad Islanders team. Bernier is more of a risk but I think a better upside - if he's traded. If he's not, then he probably won't get much playing time.

Bernier: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/teams/players/bio/?id=5874

And I'd go with Gagner over Lecavalier - Gagner's been hot and I would guess has a lot of confidence right now, and with the Oilers essentially out of the playoff hunt they may trade some of their older guys and Gagner will get more ice time. Then again, Gagner's also been trade bait. Lecavalier's in decline as Stamkos has pretty much taken over his role as goal-scorer for the Lightning.

 

[pedaling squares]

I can see Bernier getting moved, he is pretty good for a #2 goalie. Was supposed to be the Kings goalie of the present and future, but the unexpected emergence of Jonathon Quick pushed him to the backup role. The Kings will probably deal some more and any team that trades for him will want to use him in the lead role.

 

[scullster46]

Does anyone think Nash is gonna get traded before the deadline? From the start here I just haven't seen any trades that look promising, and I think that no team is willing to give up the amount that Columbus wants for Nash, and rightly so. I'm fairly positive he'll be in a new sweater by the end of the summer though.

Also, just watched Evgeni Malkin's goal from yesterday. That guy is so sick. He really plays very similarly to Mario in terms of his size, speed, and skill with the puck. During the '09 playoffs when I first started watching religiously again, I thought that when he was on, Crosby wasn't even close to his skill level. He can just take over games single handedly.

 

[pedaling squares]

Malkin is a bit of an enigma. He can be, like you said, almost another Lemieux. Big, fast, smooth, ridiculously talented, with every weapon in his tool bag. And he can appear disinterested at times, just like Lemieux early in his career. Malkin rises to the occasion when Crosby is not in the game, maybe he needs to be top dog to perform at his best, or maybe he just knows how to perform when he's needed most. When they're both in the lineup, Crosby almost always seems to be the better player. It's like comparing a Ferrari to a Lamborghini: two incredible machines and you can find strokes of genius and faults with each.

Does Columbus trade Nash? I think they have an offer from the NY Rangers, but they need to hit a home run with this deal or not make it at all. I wouldn't trade Nash unless I had Del Zotto coming back, and I don't think NYR will let him go. His value won't be as high after the deadline due to the free agents who will come on the market in July.

 

[VeloCity]

Malkin is a bit of an enigma. He can be, like you said, almost another Lemieux. Big, fast, smooth, ridiculously talented, with every weapon in his tool bag. And he can appear disinterested at times, just like Lemieux early in his career. Malkin rises to the occasion when Crosby is not in the game, maybe he needs to be top dog to perform at his best, or maybe he just knows how to perform when he's needed most. When they're both in the lineup, Crosby almost always seems to be the better player. It's like comparing a Ferrari to a Lamborghini: two incredible machines and you can find strokes of genius and faults with each.

It's a bit of a myth that Malkin performs better when Crosby's not in the lineup, but I think it might seem that way for two reasons - one, Malkin's not overshadowed by/doesn't have to share the limelight with Crosby so he gets way more attention (like Jagr without Lemieux or Messier without Gretzky etc), and two, maybe it's just that Malkin gets more ice time when Crosby's not around, though I don't have any stats to back that up.

Does Columbus trade Nash? I think they have an offer from the NY Rangers, but they need to hit a home run with this deal or not make it at all. I wouldn't trade Nash unless I had Del Zotto coming back, and I don't think NYR will let him go. His value won't be as high after the deadline due to the free agents who will come on the market in July.

After trading Carter and Vermette I doubt they'll rush a Nash trade at the deadline unless some desperate team is willing to way overypay.

 

[palmerq]

Right bernier didnt get traded, so now I could do with another goalie, so far I have lumongo who provided me with a wonder 34.something goals agaisnt average and crazy Ilya who is really in consistent.. Available are nabakov, giguerre, the edmonton goaliesS) or if I want a laugh I could take mason of columbus..... Is giguerre first choice at colorado or is varlamov still number 1 there? Does anyone know how long anderson is out for, ottawa seem to be going not bad and this lehner fellow is free too, I might have a go with him

 

[palmerq]

Rangers v Devils, Kovalchuk has finally scored again(I think he went 8 or 9 games with a goal) 1-0 so far

 

[palmerq]

seems like crosby might be back soon, datsyuk and koivu too maybe all of them returning next week, that will be great for my fantasy team and errr their careers I guess.

Hat trick for kovalchuk last night v the islanders, strange guy was on great form then didnt score for 10 games now he's back on very good form again :S New jersey look like they will make the playoffs 9 points ahead of the team in 9th and 15 games left..

 

[Fetisoff]

seems like crosby might be back soon, datsyuk and koivu too maybe all of them returning next week, that will be great for my fantasy team and errr their careers I guess.

Hat trick for kovalchuk last night v the islanders, strange guy was on great form then didnt score for 10 games now he's back on very good form again :S New jersey look like they will make the playoffs 9 points ahead of the team in 9th and 15 games left..

Kovie has always been somewhat streaky, even in his 50+ goal seasons.

Washington has won another game they had no business winning, and are back in the playoff spot

My other team loses again, to Dallas who they're fighting for division lead. What a ****ty time to play like ****.

Hope Vinnie's gonna be back for Tampa, make it even more interesting

 

[palmerq]

Devils v rangers starts with 3 fights straight from the faceoff :S carter has a bad cut on his nose... Looked like the devils lost all 3