GAME DAY #25: Blackhawks @ Sens - 7:30pm - Thursday Dec. 3 2015

SpezDispensed wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:

SpezDispensed wrote:We're really lucky to have seen the emergence of a young star in Stone last year, then be able to see another one emerging in the hoff

Even luckier neither were traded, as you would have wished.

Depends on what we would have got back, but yes, lucky.

In both cases you were looking for a 3rd or whatever you could get  to make room for a prospect and move Lazar up in the lineup, IIRC.

LeCaptain wrote:You guys seriously think Karlsson didn't have a good 60? Just at the top of my head I remember him stripping Toews off the puck twice.

I have huge expectations for Karlsson, personally. So "good" will never be good enough when it comes to him. Sucks to be him.

Really fun game to watch! Hoff shows up in a big way. Even I that has pumped his tires throughout the years think he's playing better than i could of imagined. Is it sustainable? Im not sure. I fear that hes playing for his next contract and if we are judging on the rate he is scoring at he might just get 6mill per year. But then do you get a drop off?
He's a pleasure to watch at the moment. Thats speed. Just ridiculous at times. Actually our forward group is ridiculous. There is so much talent that you could argue this is simply the beginning.

Can we get a defenceman to play with ceci now? Put that 1st round pick in play and make it happen. But get the right guy.
The window is starting to open for this team.

Flo The Action wrote:Really fun game to watch! Hoff shows up in a big way. Even I that has pumped his tires throughout the years think he's playing better than i could of imagined. Is it sustainable? Im not sure. I fear that hes playing for his next contract and if we are judging on the rate he is scoring at he might just get 6mill per year. But then do you get a drop off?
He's a pleasure to watch at the moment. Thats speed. Just ridiculous at times. Actually our forward group is ridiculous. There is so much talent that you could argue this is simply the beginning.

Can we get a defenceman to play with ceci now? Put that 1st round pick in play and make it happen. But get the right guy.
The window is starting to open for this team.

You want to piss away a 1st rounder for someone to play with Ceci? Big mistake.

Hoffman has been proving doubters wrong for a decade now at all levels. I think he's a guy that wants to stick it in everyones face every time he steps on the ice and I'd be surprised if money changes that.

SeawaySensFan wrote:

wprager wrote:Karlsson was great in the last minute and a half and he certainly *can* be the best player out there.  But over the full 60+ minutes I don't think he was the best.

By the way NHL.com has Hoff-Kane-Ryan as the three stars.   It was SNet that had them as Kane-Panarin-Hoff.  Not sure what the stars were at the game itself (as announced by Stuntman Stu).  Is there an "official" star ledger?  Is it the NL.com one?  The names announced at the game?  On the radio?  "My God,  it's full of stars"

 2001 was a springboard for Keir Dullea which launched him into the sci-fi gold-standard for TV: "The Starlost"

more to come

Never watched it. Funny, I thought Keir Dullea was one of those one-star wonders but checking his IMDB page he's been in everything. Just never anything as big as 2001.

Flo The Action wrote:Really fun game to watch! Hoff shows up in a big way. Even I that has pumped his tires throughout the years think he's playing better than i could of imagined. Is it sustainable? Im not sure. I fear that hes playing for his next contract and if we are judging on the rate he is scoring at he might just get 6mill per year. But then do you get a drop off?
He's a pleasure to watch at the moment. Thats speed. Just ridiculous at times. Actually our forward group is ridiculous. There is so much talent that you could argue this is simply the beginning.

Can we get a defenceman to play with ceci now? Put that 1st round pick in play and make it happen. But get the right guy.
The window is starting to open for this team.

It's not our defense. It's our possession numbers. Outside of the top three it's been brutal. The drop off in some players from last season is pretty scary. And while all of this offense comes at a small cost on the other side of the puck, it certainly is not enough to explain the overall drop in defensive play.

Glad to see Hoffman playing so well.  He's becoming quite the prolific goal scorer and proving to be quite clutch too.  I wish I could find the post where neely was ripping on hoffman and downplaying his importance on the team....we saw flashes of this last season (tying goal against pittsburgh, winning goal against MTL in playoffs).  He's proving his doubters wrong and if I were BMurr I'd start negotiating asap.  

$5.5M x 6 years is my guess what it will take.

This is what I said before and it applies to team defense too, specially the "Defend better" part:

SeawaySensFan wrote:Goals against is a team stat so everyone needs to do what they can to limit shots against. Defend better, have the puck more, spend more time in the offensive zone. Whatever it takes.

We saw the team cycle the puck in the offensive zone last night and they scored off that play. I'm sure they haven't established a cycle all year until last night.

There never seems to be any sustained dangerous pressure, lots of working the puck around the perimeter until a low percentage shot comes out of it, but not much else.

Michallica wrote:Glad to see Hoffman playing so well.  He's becoming quite the prolific goal scorer and proving to be quite clutch too.  I wish I could find the post where neely was ripping on hoffman and downplaying his importance on the team....we saw flashes of this last season (tying goal against pittsburgh, winning goal against MTL in playoffs).  He's proving his doubters wrong and if I were BMurr I'd start negotiating asap.  

$5.5M x 6 years is my guess what it will take.

Jan. 1 is the earliest they can do it. Circle the date.

SeawaySensFan wrote:

Michallica wrote:Glad to see Hoffman playing so well.  He's becoming quite the prolific goal scorer and proving to be quite clutch too.  I wish I could find the post where neely was ripping on hoffman and downplaying his importance on the team....we saw flashes of this last season (tying goal against pittsburgh, winning goal against MTL in playoffs).  He's proving his doubters wrong and if I were BMurr I'd start negotiating asap.  

$5.5M x 6 years is my guess what it will take.

Jan. 1 is the earliest they can do it. Circle the date.

Really? Is it because it was an arbitration award?

SeawaySensFan wrote:

Michallica wrote:Glad to see Hoffman playing so well.  He's becoming quite the prolific goal scorer and proving to be quite clutch too.  I wish I could find the post where neely was ripping on hoffman and downplaying his importance on the team....we saw flashes of this last season (tying goal against pittsburgh, winning goal against MTL in playoffs).  He's proving his doubters wrong and if I were BMurr I'd start negotiating asap.  

$5.5M x 6 years is my guess what it will take.

Jan. 1 is the earliest they can do it. Circle the date.

Is it? I imagine thats putting ink on paper but surely the negotiations can start before that?

Its hard to tell how much it will cost but whatever it is it surely will not be under 5mill a season. Not at this rate.

Flo The Action wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:

Michallica wrote:Glad to see Hoffman playing so well.  He's becoming quite the prolific goal scorer and proving to be quite clutch too.  I wish I could find the post where neely was ripping on hoffman and downplaying his importance on the team....we saw flashes of this last season (tying goal against pittsburgh, winning goal against MTL in playoffs).  He's proving his doubters wrong and if I were BMurr I'd start negotiating asap.  

$5.5M x 6 years is my guess what it will take.

Jan. 1 is the earliest they can do it. Circle the date.

Is it? I imagine thats putting ink on paper but surely the negotiations can start before that?

Its hard to tell how much it will cost but whatever it is it surely will not be under 5mill a season. Not at this rate.

Ink on paper will have to wait but puck in net will hopefully continue.

more to come

SeawaySensFan wrote:

Michallica wrote:Glad to see Hoffman playing so well.  He's becoming quite the prolific goal scorer and proving to be quite clutch too.  I wish I could find the post where neely was ripping on hoffman and downplaying his importance on the team....we saw flashes of this last season (tying goal against pittsburgh, winning goal against MTL in playoffs).  He's proving his doubters wrong and if I were BMurr I'd start negotiating asap.  

$5.5M x 6 years is my guess what it will take.

Jan. 1 is the earliest they can do it. Circle the date.

Why? I can't find anything explaining why January 1 is a key date.

Flo The Action wrote:Really fun game to watch! Hoff shows up in a big way. Even I that has pumped his tires throughout the years think he's playing better than i could of imagined. Is it sustainable? Im not sure. I fear that hes playing for his next contract and if we are judging on the rate he is scoring at he might just get 6mill per year. But then do you get a drop off?
He's a pleasure to watch at the moment. Thats speed. Just ridiculous at times. Actually our forward group is ridiculous. There is so much talent that you could argue this is simply the beginning.

Can we get a defenceman to play with ceci now? Put that 1st round pick in play and make it happen. But get the right guy.
The window is starting to open for this team.

Yeah, put the 1st round in play for a 27-28 year old only though, anything older than that is a waste of a pick IMO, but I was thinking the same thing. You have the goaltending, you have the forwards group - although they need some playoff seasoning, you have the team speed, what you're sorely missing is the number 3 D-man. You must make a decision BM!!

wprager wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:

Michallica wrote:Glad to see Hoffman playing so well.  He's becoming quite the prolific goal scorer and proving to be quite clutch too.  I wish I could find the post where neely was ripping on hoffman and downplaying his importance on the team....we saw flashes of this last season (tying goal against pittsburgh, winning goal against MTL in playoffs).  He's proving his doubters wrong and if I were BMurr I'd start negotiating asap.  

$5.5M x 6 years is my guess what it will take.

Jan. 1 is the earliest they can do it. Circle the date.

Why?  I can't find anything explaining why January 1 is a key date.  

Article 50.5, p. 279 of the new CBA:

"A Player who is party to a one-year SPC [standard player contract] may not enter into an "extension" of such SPC prior to January 1 of the League Year covered by such SPC."

This is a carryover from the last CBA.

Probably not a bad thing. Let Hoffman go through the downs as well as the ups before you put pen to paper on what will be a 30 million dollar package, I would imagine.

SpezDispensed wrote:

Flo The Action wrote:Really fun game to watch! Hoff shows up in a big way. Even I that has pumped his tires throughout the years think he's playing better than i could of imagined. Is it sustainable? Im not sure. I fear that hes playing for his next contract and if we are judging on the rate he is scoring at he might just get 6mill per year. But then do you get a drop off?
He's a pleasure to watch at the moment. Thats speed. Just ridiculous at times. Actually our forward group is ridiculous. There is so much talent that you could argue this is simply the beginning.

Can we get a defenceman to play with ceci now? Put that 1st round pick in play and make it happen. But get the right guy.
The window is starting to open for this team.

Yeah, put the 1st round in play for a 27-28 year old only though, anything older than that is a waste of a pick IMO, but I was thinking the same thing.  You have the goaltending, you have the forwards group - although they need some playoff seasoning, you have the team speed, what you're sorely missing is the number 3 D-man.  You must make a decision BM!!

Team speed? Boro-Cowen-Wiercioch, so half of your D (I also wouldn't call Methot a speed demon but he does alright). I won't bother looking at the 4th line, but Ryan, Stone, Chiasson even Zibanejad aren't the fleetest of foot. So that's 4 of your top 9.

Of the top-end speed, really, it's Karlsson and Hoffman, then there's Pageau; Lazar (who used to be fast but now I think he's slowed down because his decision making -- where to go -- is a touch behind).