Comments on: How you gonna keep Kane down on the farm?

By: World Be Free

World Be Free — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 13:53:59 +0000

I have told ya’ll what i think of Hockey Night in Canada. Their hockey coverage used to be the best, now it is the worst. Kovy to the KHL? You have to be kidding me, why the heck woulod he want to play in the KHL?

Pretty amazing how bad Boston is so far this year. They also have the tough task of holding their team together, so close to the salary cap.
That has to be the biggest surprise. Montreal will set the example of how not to try and build a team-through free agency! I hope Toronto management learns from the Habs’ mistakes.

By: Trixie (Rawhide's Secretary)

Trixie (Rawhide's Secretary) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 04:55:46 +0000

RANALLO WARNING!!

This is your ten-minute RANALLO WARNING!

And yes…Mr. Rawhide is paying me double time to be working this late on a Saturday night!

By: Smoothie

Smoothie — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 04:17:59 +0000

I gotta hand it to Moose, he was a wall in the paint tonite. He was well-prepared for this game and he made things easier for his d-men in the first 40 mins. I was fearful they were gonna hang him out to dry in the 3rd with their “nickel prevent” defense.

Despite facing 20+ shots, he gave up very few juicy rebounds save the one that resulted in the goal — a goal that Bogey perhaps could have prevented had he played the body on Stafford instead of reaching for the puck. Again, too much stick play by our d-men when the better play would be to tie up the man in the crease.

I definitely did not like Schubie with Pops, but MP3 was very good for the most part tonite. Speaking of d-men, does it seem like they are not jumping up into the play as much as last March & April? Perhaps it is just a by-product of playing with the lead thanks to our PP prowess. Hope we get better at pinching and possessing the puck as the season gets into full swing.

By: Smoothie

Smoothie — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 04:10:54 +0000

Midfield, that’s pretty funny about Schneider and Jewish holidays. Last time I checked, he was on the shelf re-habbing his shoulder out in ‘da Couve. Perhaps Bogey should fly his buddy into Atlanta to let him re-hab his shoulder in his palacial new workout center at home. Actually, I think Bogey’s home gym is in Messena, but hell, Zach had plenty of time over the last 2 weeks of practice to move in some free-weights and machines. Bogey is struggling a bit, but Enstrom is bailing his butt out most of the time. The kid will be fine…he’s played a lot of hockey over the last 10 months with only about a month off this summer after the Worlds. Perhaps moving him down to # 2 pairing with Hainsey will get his attention?

By: Brendan

Brendan — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 03:30:30 +0000

Ya know, tonight, I really looked forward to that Senators-Canadiens game. And it was a “decent” game. But I learned something I didn’t know in preseason. Ottawa is better than I thought. Perhaps, they’re better than Montreal. This is only one game, of course. But the Sens are 5-2-0, and the Habs are 2-5-0. And one of those wins was in overtime versus the Leafs. Bob Gainey spend A LOT OF MONEY to “fix” the Montreal squad. Doesn’t look like it was money well spent, yet.

See, what do I always say? “In hockey, there really aren’t ‘quick-fix’ solutions.” In short, you’ve got to pay the piper. You’ve got to take your lumps, and hope the draft brings ya something good. And the waiver wire presents you with something good. And hope to find some player who merely fell out of favor in his camp to wind up on your team. Do these things, and 3 years later, you should be doing pretty well. Instead, Montreal lets all 10 UFA’s walk. That’s making a statement about falling from #1 to #8 in the playoff field. But they spent too much on Hal Gill, Spacek, Gionta, Cammalleri, and took on that ridiculous Gomez contract. I’m not at all sold on Montreal being a playoff team. And as for Toronto, I know that Kessel trade was a bold and aggressive move. But it really wasn’t necessary. The Leafs didn’t HAVE TO HAVE Phil Kessel. Phil Kessel is not the “end all, be all” of NHL existence. They could have taken their chances in the draft, and probably done very well. Conceptually, rebuilding teams shouldn’t trade away their 1st round picks or 2nd round picks. That’s the best way to ESCAPE the mess they’re in. When Kessel returns, Leafs fans will demand a “hat trick” a game so that they feel his trade and salary were justified.

By: Midfield

Midfield — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 03:26:28 +0000

The SOG wouldn’t be as bad if it weren’t for the slue of penalties. Some of them were invented, I have to say. I’ve yet to remember the concurrent call in a scrum resulting on 2minute 5 on 3 in this league. Only in Buffalo. But, yes, Bogosian has skated a couple of games as sloppily as at the begiining of last season. Perhaps, it’s time to fly Schneider in to Duluth for a long weekend. Any Jewish holidays coming up soon?

By: BlueSpark

BlueSpark — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 03:26:06 +0000

Off-topic: Ovechkin has 9 goals on 61 shots. Kovalchuk has 7 goals on 16 shots. That is not a typo.

By: Brendan

Brendan — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 03:19:59 +0000

And NHL TV just announced that the Leafs don’t play again until next Saturday? So, there’ll be seven days to (over)analyze the Leafs’ start in Toronto. Ron Wilson and Brian Burke should just turn off their phones. In the Leafs’s defense, they’ve played some good and hot teams. But they’re not playing well. And when a team isn’t playing well, they’re not apt to win.

I’m watching the Sabres-Thrasher REPLAY on Center Ice. Kovy just made it, 1-0.

Sara, great to see the Coyotes with that 4-1 lead, late in the 3rd. There’s about 3:00 left.

By: Brendan

Brendan — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 03:15:17 +0000

Sara, I think it’s time Mike Babcock had “THE TALK.” Really? Well, yeah. It is. Why wait any longer? Babcock has to call BEAST into his office and utter the word, “accountability.” Detroit is not, necessarily, in danger of losing the division, with 76 or so games left to play. But if things continue at this pace, they’re in trouble. Maybe even “making the playoffs” trouble. But I don’t want to go nuts here. They are the Red Wings. This will get corrected, one way or the other.

Did Babcock renew his contract over the Summer? Or was that Summer of 2008? I don’t think his job is in danger. But Beast may be another matter.

By: Smitty

Smitty — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 02:42:53 +0000

Pierre Lebrun spoke about Kovy on the Hot Stove League on HNIC tonight. He mentioned the possibility of Kovy playing in KHL next year if he does not re-up here in ATL. He said that possibilty is slim and that Kovy’s first choice is to remain here. Lebrun’s gut feeling is that Kovy will re-sign in ATL within the month.

Nice to see Max score tonight after getting booed. Looks like all the lines are clicking on all cylinders. Defense needs some work.