NHL 2016-2017 Thread

[catdaddy]

If we're talking about hockey players who are defying father time a guy who gets my vote is Matt Cullen. Whereas a lot of older guys in hockey hang around a la Jagr by using their experience and their soft hands to keep them in the game Cullen has that plus he still has his wheels. I've never seen a 40 year old hockey player who can flat out skate like Cullen can. On occasion earlier in the season he centered a line with Carl Hagelin and Brian Rust who are younger and can fly. He fit right in.

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by AmericanEagle

Yes, Go B's!

Hey Eagle, Welcome to the thread!! Hopefully we'll have some Bruins playoff talk in 3 weeks.

Originally Posted by Neil K Walk

LOLZ! Don't worry. Only 4 months or so until NFL training camp starts.

In the meantime, who's the better active athlete who's defying Father Time? Tom Brady or Jaromir Jagr? Believe it or not, I say Tommy Boy. There's no way Jagr can surpass Wayne Gretzky's legacy.

Tom Brady is playing at a higher level than Jagr. Jagr would get hit a lot more if he were younger but there's a lot of respect in the NHL for 40+ year olds.

[Jim_G]

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

Losing to Toronto was tough since now the Leafs are 1 point back with 2 games in hand. Even if things go a little south there's still the wild card. What's up with the Bruins in the last 10 games of the season? Last couple of years didn't fare too well.

Make it 4 losses in a row. This one was especially brutal since they had the lead three times and coughed it up all three. All three times within a minute. Some of the mental lapses cannot be blamed on Julien, or Cassidy.

I watched most of the third period. They looked horrible. Especially the defensemen. Colin Miller is the only keeper in that entire crew. And that includes Chara, who honestly is no better than a third pairing guy now. Sweeney has apparently drafted help, but it's going to be a couple of years before that fruit ripens.

The B's are 2 points up on the Islanders. The Islanders have a game in hand, which they'll make up tonight in Pittsburgh. And then tomorrow night, THE biggest game of the season for the B's when the Islanders come to town. They'll either be tied for the last playoff spot, or the B's will be up 2 points with the same amount of GP, finally. If they lose again, stick a fork in them. I can only imagine the boos raining down.

[catdaddy]

Crosby without a point last night against the Sens. However he did manage to slash Mark Methot's finger badly enough to have Methot leave the game and not return. In the previous game against Buffalo Sid wickedly speared the Sabres' Ryan O'Reilly in the gonads! So is this just a coincidence or is Crosby finally tired of taking all the abuse (the high stick from Evander Kane in the Buffalo game cost Sid his two front teeth) and has become his alter ego Sid 'Vicious'?

[Neil K Walk]

Originally Posted by catdaddy

Crosby without a point last night against the Sens. However he did manage to slash Mark Methot's finger badly enough to have Methot leave the game and not return. In the previous game against Buffalo Sid wickedly speared the Sabres' Ryan O'Reilly in the gonads! So is this just a coincidence or is Crosby finally tired of taking all the abuse (the high stick from Evander Kane in the Buffalo game cost Sid his two front teeth) and has become his alter ego Sid 'Vicious'?

Maybe it could be frustration boiling over but bear in mind that the Pens are also dealing with a lot of injuries themselves so he's been getting a lot more "attention" - not from the media but from other teams' players, putting Sid in a more competitive and confrontational mindset. If the Pens had a "goon" on their squad maybe things would play out differently with regards to Sid's extracurricular activities on the ice but as a team I like how they've been playing.

Also, bear in mind that if Sid were to complain to the refs then everybody would be calling him "Cindy" again.

[Jim_G]

Did they send Sestito back down already? I loved his debut last week. 62 seconds of ice time, 20 minutes of penalty, and an ejection. That's an old school line!

Edit: Ah, I see it now. He also earned a 4 game suspension during that 62 seconds of ice time. Nice!

[Neil K Walk]

Originally Posted by Jim_G

Did they send Sestito back down already? I loved his debut last week. 62 seconds of ice time, 20 minutes of penalty, and an ejection. That's an old school line!

Edit: Ah, I see it now. He also earned a 4 game suspension during that 62 seconds of ice time. Nice!

Yup. The man is quite efficient at his one true talent. If UFC ever allows fighting on ice he would be a shoe-in for the title.

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by Jim_G

Make it 4 losses in a row. This one was especially brutal since they had the lead three times and coughed it up all three. All three times within a minute. Some of the mental lapses cannot be blamed on Julien, or Cassidy.

I watched most of the third period. They looked horrible. Especially the defensemen. Colin Miller is the only keeper in that entire crew. And that includes Chara, who honestly is no better than a third pairing guy now. Sweeney has apparently drafted help, but it's going to be a couple of years before that fruit ripens.

The B's are 2 points up on the Islanders. The Islanders have a game in hand, which they'll make up tonight in Pittsburgh. And then tomorrow night, THE biggest game of the season for the B's when the Islanders come to town. They'll either be tied for the last playoff spot, or the B's will be up 2 points with the same amount of GP, finally. If they lose again, stick a fork in them. I can only imagine the boos raining down.

Bruins beat the Islanders! Big win. Gotta get it going, Boys.

Looks like McDavid nearly has the Art Ross captured. 8 games for Crosby to make up 8 points. (I think that's McDavid's lead now).

[catdaddy]

Originally Posted by Jim_G

Did they send Sestito back down already? I loved his debut last week. 62 seconds of ice time, 20 minutes of penalty, and an ejection. That's an old school line!

Edit: Ah, I see it now. He also earned a 4 game suspension during that 62 seconds of ice time. Nice!

Actually Tom Sestito's suspension was completed several games ago. He came back from the suspension, played a game and suffered an upper body injury. So he's been an injury scratch most recently. In Tom's case I think the injury probably falls under the category of 'He knew the job was dangerous when he took it.' We'll see exactly how serious his injury is when the Pens play the Flyers tonight.

[Jim_G]

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

Bruins beat the Islanders! Big win. Gotta get it going, Boys.

Nice win. I find it interesting that in the biggest game of the season, they chose to sit Rask. I do wonder about his mental toughness, he has a history of folding under pressure, and he looked bad the previous game.

And thanks for the update on Sestito, CD. I haven't looked at any box scores yet, but I thought I heard on the radio on the ride into work that the Flyers worked the Pens over pretty good. Sounds like they're coasting to the finish line.

[catdaddy]

Originally Posted by Jim_G

Nice win. I find it interesting that in the biggest game of the season, they chose to sit Rask. I do wonder about his mental toughness, he has a history of folding under pressure, and he looked bad the previous game.

And thanks for the update on Sestito, CD. I haven't looked at any box scores yet, but I thought I heard on the radio on the ride into work that the Flyers worked the Pens over pretty good. Sounds like they're coasting to the finish line.

Good on the Bruins for beating the Isles. The Islanders looked pretty good/desperate beating the Pens on Friday so the Bruins must be doing some things right. I'm surprised to hear that Rask has problems with folding under pressure. He has looked unbeatable against the Pens often enough (especially in that 4 game sweep in the ECF a few years ago).

The Flyers/Pens matchup ended 6-2 in favor of Philly. The score was indicative of the way the game was played. Conor Sheary was injured early in the game and that seemed to deflate the Pens. Only last week the Sheary-Crosby-Guentzel line was creating headlines around the NHL for their great play. Crosby's line last night featured a lot of AHL call-ups with Guentzel and Sheary injured. The Pens aren't really coasting, they're limping to the finish.

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by catdaddy

Good on the Bruins for beating the Isles. The Islanders looked pretty good/desperate beating the Pens on Friday so the Bruins must be doing some things right. I'm surprised to hear that Rask has problems with folding under pressure. He has looked unbeatable against the Pens often enough (especially in that 4 game sweep in the ECF a few years ago).

The Flyers/Pens matchup ended 6-2 in favor of Philly. The score was indicative of the way the game was played. Conor Sheary was injured early in the game and that seemed to deflate the Pens. Only last week the Sheary-Crosby-Guentzel line was creating headlines around the NHL for their great play. Crosby's line last night featured a lot of AHL call-ups with Guentzel and Sheary injured. The Pens aren't really coasting, they're limping to the finish.

There were a few amazing games for sure.

[Neil K Walk]

The Pens are off for 2 days after losing 3. Hopefully they get somebody back off the DL. They're clinched for the playoffs but admittedly are hurting

I don't know if it will be Malkin back next as word is that he left the last practice early. I'm wondering if he shattered something blocking a shot in his last game.

Meanwhile Murray has been looking pretty bad in goal. I don't know if it's fatigue or people have seen enough to figure him out but Fleury might be getting the starting goalie job back - at least for the first round of the playoffs.

[catdaddy]

Originally Posted by Neil K Walk

The Pens are off for 2 days after losing 3. Hopefully they get somebody back off the DL. They're clinched for the playoffs but admittedly are hurting

I don't know if it will be Malkin back next as word is that he left the last practice early. I'm wondering if he shattered something blocking a shot in his last game.

Meanwhile Murray has been looking pretty bad in goal. I don't know if it's fatigue or people have seen enough to figure him out but Fleury might be getting the starting goalie job back - at least for the first round of the playoffs.

Murray has been having some rough starts recently although I'm convinced that injuries leading to the make-shift lineup in front of him has been a contributing factor. I think Fleury's experience through the years with Pens teams that were notoriously lax defensively allows him a better comfort level and familiarity with shaky defense in front of him. He's looked terrific of late.

[Neil K Walk]

Originally Posted by catdaddy

Murray has been having some rough starts recently although I'm convinced that injuries leading to the make-shift lineup in front of him has been a contributing factor. I think Fleury's experience through the years with Pens teams that were notoriously lax defensively allows him a better comfort level and familiarity with shaky defense in front of him. He's looked terrific of late.

Exactly. Murray has talent, that's for sure but he lacks in experience - something that Sullivan has been trying to give him with the starting goalie role and allowing him to make so many consecutive starts without sitting for a game and letting Fleury keep sharp with a start more often. I think this may have contributed to Murray's recent troubles but I will also admit that I'm a fan of Fleury.