The Official 2011 Tank Nation thread

Crucial game tonight, if we lose and one of NY or NJ wins their next game, we're in Landeskog/RNH territory. Couturier is still fine though.

marakh wrote:Crucial game tonight, if we lose and one of NY or NJ wins their next game, we're in Landeskog/RNH territory. Couturier is still fine though.

A bottom four finish has to be the goal, minimum. I don't want to pick 5th or lower, that's for sure.

hemlock wrote:

wprager wrote:Hemlock, can you point to a recent post -- not made up -- where I corrected someone's grammar? I've been defending myself against accusations of being a Grammar Nazi, but if you check my record you will see that I have not really indulged in that particular pastime for a while; certainly not with the frequency that is implied in your posts.

So give it a rest, please.

I don't need to point to a post. You know as well as I do, that you tend to do this sort of thing. In fact, you have in the past taken issue with people who disagree with your opinion, such as telling me I "used to be one of the good ones" for not agreeing with your lofty opinions. You yourself freely acknowledged that you do/have done it, as evidenced by the part I bolded, so why would I need to provide proof?

Nothing more needs to be said here.

That's good because you sound like 2 10 year olds having an argument in the school yard ...

rooneypoo wrote:*pulls chair even closer*

*upgrades to scotch*

What kind? How old? tell me it was NEAT.

TheAvatar wrote:

hemlock wrote:

wprager wrote:Hemlock, can you point to a recent post -- not made up -- where I corrected someone's grammar? I've been defending myself against accusations of being a Grammar Nazi, but if you check my record you will see that I have not really indulged in that particular pastime for a while; certainly not with the frequency that is implied in your posts.

So give it a rest, please.

I don't need to point to a post. You know as well as I do, that you tend to do this sort of thing. In fact, you have in the past taken issue with people who disagree with your opinion, such as telling me I "used to be one of the good ones" for not agreeing with your lofty opinions. You yourself freely acknowledged that you do/have done it, as evidenced by the part I bolded, so why would I need to provide proof?

Nothing more needs to be said here.

That's good because you sound like 2 10 year olds having an argument in the school yard ...

How exactly does making insults help anyone?

EDIT: Actually forget it, it's a rhetorical question.

TheAvatar wrote:

rooneypoo wrote:*pulls chair even closer*

*upgrades to scotch*

What kind? How old? tell me it was NEAT.

Always neat. Ice is sacrilegious.

Just cracked open a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue (the GF got it for me at the duty-free). Unfortunately, I have discovered that the Blue might be the most overrated scotch of all time, even more so than Oban. It's not awful or anything, but Blue = really thin, nothing really remarkable. Disappointed.

My Macallan Cask Strength, at less than half the price, is about 8 times the scotch that Blue is. I don't know why I even give blends a chance. It's gotta be a single malt.

Johnnie Walker is a blended scotch whisky. I like their Black label for mixing with.

Funny you should mention Macallan. I think the Macallan 25 is one of the most over-rated Scotches out there. Way over priced.

shabbs wrote:Johnnie Walker is a blended scotch whisky. I like their Black label for mixing with.

Funny you should mention Macallan. I think the Macallan 25 is one of the most over-rated Scotches out there. Way over priced.

I know. What more, I said that in the original post, slammed blends in general, & praised single malts. Did I miss something?

rooneypoo wrote:

shabbs wrote:Johnnie Walker is a blended scotch whisky. I like their Black label for mixing with.

Funny you should mention Macallan. I think the Macallan 25 is one of the most over-rated Scotches out there. Way over priced.

I know. What more, I said that in the original post, slammed blends in general, & praised single malts. Did I miss something?

Heh. Missed that last bit... have you tried Famous Grouse? It's a pretty good blend actually. Holds it's own very well.

Balvenie Doublewood is my fave scotch and of course, never with ice.

Hmm. I don't want to get blamed for side tracking this thread, too (even though I didn't really start this).

So. Someone make a case why I should be happy with Sean Couturier if we happen to end up with the 4th pick. I've had the debate on Landeskog vs. Nugent-Hopkins now, & I'm assuming that we won't pick Larsson unless all three of the big forwards are gone, so tell me why I should be excited about this kid & how he stacks up against the other two.

PS: the best bang-for-buck scotch is Highland Park. The 12, 15, 18, it doesn't matter (although each is better than the last).

rooneypoo wrote:Hmm. I don't want to get blamed for side tracking this thread, too (even though I didn't really start this).

So. Someone make a case why I should be happy with Sean Couturier if we happen to end up with the 4th pick. I've had the debate on Landeskog vs. Nugent-Hopkins now, & I'm assuming that we won't pick Larsson unless all three of the big forwards are gone, so tell me why I should be excited about this kid & how he stacks up against the other two.

PS: the best bang-for-buck scotch is Highland Park. The 12, 15, 18, it doesn't matter (although each is better than the last).

I can't. Furthermore, I believe it should be Landeskog or bust. Otherwise, trade the pick for immediate help or trade down and pick up a first rounder for 2012 as well.

I trust that the Sens will pick the player they want. I have no idea who that is. We can all say who it is we want, which clearly is a difference of opinion, and it all depends on where we they are actually picking.

For the speculative-ist in you, who's thinking more about the Sens after late June than the Sens right now...

Take OTT's hypothetical $15-20 mil we will have on 1 July 2011 (we have $42 mil committed next year, and are looking at a cap ceiling in between $59-62 mil -- who knows if we'll even spend to the cap tho' -- another factor you'll have to think about & argue) and go shopping using this pretty decent list of potential upcoming UFAs:

http://www.mynhltraderumors.com/tag/2011-nhl-free-agents/

Keep a few things in mind as you play GM:

1) OTT already has 9 forwards under contract for next year, plus RFA rights on Smith & Butler (both of who will push for a roster spot next year; Smith may already be a shoe-in) as well as Greening, Condra, & Wick. We also may well have a guy like Nugent-Hopkins, Landeskog, or Couturier, whom management (rightly or wrongly) may well want to get on the ice ASAP. (All such info from CapGeek: http://www.capgeek.com/charts.php?Team=23)

2) OTT already has 5 D under contract for next year (Gonchar, Kuba, Karlsson, Carkner, & Lee), plus RFA rights on Campoli, plus Cowen, Rundblad, Gryba, & Weircioch (OK, probably not the last -- Cowen seems likely, Rundblad seems possible, if a stretch) all potentially pushing for roster spots. And we have a big decision with Phillips looming, of course.

3) OTT has only RFA rights on Elliott in terms of goaltending, & of course Lehner pushing for a spot (rightly or wrongly).

4) Strive to be realistic when it comes to who would sign here, why, & for how much. I.e., yes, Vokoun would be neat, but he's not taking a 2-year deal. Remember that, OTT being OTT, we generally has to overpay, give longer terms that we'd like, & are not a destination of choice for choice FAs.

5) If you foresee trades with players signed into next year (i.e., any of the 9 returning forward, 5 returning D, and 4 regular NHLers / NHL-ready RFAs [Campoli, Smith, Butler, & Elliott], or prospects), give some speculative returns (i.e., just to clear cap / roster space? or can we actually turn some guys into filling needs?). Again, strive to be realistic: think about other teams' needs, why they might want the guys you propose, & rely on something like CapGeek for trade clause info.

Ready, set, & GO!

I have a bad feeling we'll sign Arnott.

rooneypoo wrote:

Good post. People do really need to be realistic; we aren't signing Vokoun or Richards. I posted this in some other thread a couple of weeks ago, but I think realistic signings include Brooks Laich, Zenon Konopka, and Jonathan Ericsson. Not saying they are the right signings, but that's who I think we could be looking at if we really want to bring in some new people. Laich for the skill and leadership abilities (he could be a captain one day, who knows), Konopka for the toughness + face-off ability, and Ericsson to be a bottom-pairing d-man.

rooneypoo wrote:Hmm. I don't want to get blamed for side tracking this thread, too (even though I didn't really start this).

So. Someone make a case why I should be happy with Sean Couturier if we happen to end up with the 4th pick. I've had the debate on Landeskog vs. Nugent-Hopkins now, & I'm assuming that we won't pick Larsson unless all three of the big forwards are gone, so tell me why I should be excited about this kid & how he stacks up against the other two.

PS: the best bang-for-buck scotch is Highland Park. The 12, 15, 18, it doesn't matter (although each is better than the last).

Couturier:
-He's got size you'd love to have at the centre position (already 6'4" and ~200lbs)
-He's well-rounded with high defensive upside
-He's been tremendously productive as a Junior, WJCs excluded: Led the Q with 41 goals, 96 points and +62 in 68 games a year before his draft year (first guy to do that since Sid), and currently has 73 points and +35 in 43 games this year.

If things work out, he probably projects somewhere between Eric and Jordan Staal. There are conflicting opinions on him but that's pretty typical with prospects.

I'd rather have RNH because I think he'll be better offensively, but depending on how Couturier comes along skating-wise (it's not bad, but it's not elite) that could change pretty quickly. He's not that far behind skill-wise.

But I haven't watched a tonne of him outside of the WJCs.

Now, as far as scotch goes, I've been going through a bottle of Aberlour a'bunadh no. 18 that I picked up in Speyside.

I would also take Patrick Eaves back for cheap, but maybe Detroit would want to keep him.