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May 3, 2004 - .... speaking of WC goaltending whatsoever, every team
still in the tourney has at least one goalie who played in
the NHL this past season. Now, any article talking about
HOW good Luongo is at this tournament is a pure waste
of your reading time. These tournaments are fun, but
seriously people, what the hell do you think the results
are gonna be when Canada consists entirely of NHLers
and has played Austria, France, Switzerland, Latvia
and Germany. None of these countries has more than
3 NHLers (only Latvia with Irbe, Zholtok and Ozolinsh).
GIVE ME A FUCKIN' BREAK!!!!!
Just how many goals do you think these nations are
gonna score against ANY fucking NHL goalie, much
less Luongo????
I dunno, but you don't judge how good Luongo or
Giguere or Denis is by these opponents. As far
as I'm concerned, once the World Cup comes, I
HOPE Canada puts fuckin' Luongo in net 'cause
I wanna see a repeat of '96!
Sorry, but I'm a little irked by this shit at the moment.
Let's go USA - only a victory against Denmark lies
in the way to a match against either the Czech Republic
or Canada!!! I hope it's Canada!
April 30, 2004 -
After seeing this great article the other day, I'm now thinkin' about
BPort.
In big blocks are the guys I think the team should try to resign:
>>>
Team status
SIGNED FOR 2004-05
Sean Bergenheim, Blaine Down, Cole Jarrett, Dieter Kochan, Ryan Kraft
CLUB OPTION
Wade Dubielewicz
RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS
GRAHAM BELAK, ROB COLLINS, JEFF HAMILTON, Cail MacLean, JUSTIN
MAPLETOFT, TOMI PETTINEN, STEVE WEBB
UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS
Mike Bayrack, DEREK BEKAR, KEVIN COLLEY, LUKE CURTIN, Ben Guite,
MARTIN KARIYA, Jay Leach, Alan Letang, ERIC MANLOW, Steve Munn, Randy
Perry, JODY ROBINSON, BRANDON SMITH, Mike Souza
<<<
Welp, considering Bergenheim will probably be a part of the
new team once a cap is in place, let's look at what's going on.
GOAL:
In goal, Kochan is signed and a good AHLer, but rumor over here
has it that he has asked to leave Bport to take up an offer in Germany.
No confirm on that yet, but if it happens, don't be surprised.
If Dubie is taken up - and he will be - he can be anywhere between
the Isles' back-up and Bports. Personally, I'd like to see him on the
Island, but it is logical that the organization will give him the
starter's
role next year on da Port. I suspect he'll see rubber.
What I don't understand is why Sterling's son isn't an AHL goalie.
Scott continues to dominate the ECHL and play great on call-ups.
Will he still be in the picture???
DEFENSE:
Cole Jarrett had a nice first year and will return. I suspect that
Pettinen will upped and stick here with a good chance to make
the Isles as a number 7, not that I've seen anything saying he
is an NHL Dman, but who knows.
I'm convinced Caldwell will spend next season at BPort. The
jump from college hockey is huge, but JM Liles did it quite
well for Colorado this season. Maybe Caldwell can too. I
don't think Gervais will be rushed. I see him in Juniors for
one last HURRAH and a year to mend that new knee. Jan
Holub.... I suspect he'll be brought over as well. I'd really
like to see Tukio here, although the Finns I know said he's
not interested in playing in the minors. Either the Island or
that's it. Of these prospects, I think Caldwell and Holub
will be in Bport.
Both Letang and Smith have been invaluable for the Tigers.
I think both will go their seperate ways now. Smith has been
a leader, and I think if they depart, so will a great deal of the
success. Especially Smith should be resigned, however
both of these guys look like they've hit the stage where they're
ready to try new ventures, maybe in Europe. Robinson was
a fighter. There's no offensive potential, but he came out
of nowhere to be a fan favorite. He should be retained.
Graham Belak should also be kept, cause his size and
fists say he's among the most feared men in minor league
hockey. Could he be an Isle??? The team should find
out.
OFFENSE:
Ryan Kraft had his worst offensive season in years.
Just two years ago he had 89 points! That's a freakin'
lot. He was injured, but I've seen this guy and he's not
bad. I think he could come to Europe and be a star.
That's his style. For now, he's got to be the #1 center
next season. Blaine Down is a useful 3rd liner who has
gotten better every month, but looks to be a career
minor leaguer. Was injured a lot, but he'll be here. Like
I said, Bergenheim will be on the Island, but if not, it'd
be nice to see him getting top-line minutes at BPort.
Hamilton had a great year. Despite injuries and a
plethora of linemates, not to mention a very low-scoring
team, he managed 43-25-68 in 66 games. This guy
can play in both directions. He's small, but in a way,
the St. Louis story, and the Boguniecki story are
pretty inspiring. Hamilton has earned a shot in camp.
If anything, another year with Bport won't hurt.
Collins was a good allrounder and has some good
skills for this league. Webb..... I think it'd be positive
if he stayed on the farm and got called up every now
and again. We know him and what he offers. He
can at least do that for BPort. The team should resign
Mapletoft. With uncertain financial waters, Mapletoft
may need to be our 4th line center next year. If anything,
he finally was developing and AHL scoring touch. I
wish he'd been healthy in the playoffs. I still think he's
gonna be an NHLer.
As for the rest, I think Luc Curtain can be a decent
pointgetter in the AHL. He did well when the team
needed him and he may be able to handle it on
a full-time basis. Kariya and Colley each had their
good and bad days and are good team players. Kariya
has the blood lines. He slowed after what looked like
a promising start, but that happens a lot to guys suddenly
playing twice as much as they ever had before.
Two guys I'd REALLY like to see staying are Manlow
and Bekar. Manlow is good guy to have around. He
can captain your AHL team and be safely inserted
on the fourth line for a few technically sound games
in the NHL. I hope the team can hold onto him. Bekar
had a great year as a rookie out of UNH last year
as a Kings prospect. He latched on with BPort and
darnet, he too could one day weasle his way into the
NHL. He was the 2nd leading goalscorer and might
have hit 30 were it not for injury. I'd definitely keep him
if possible, but it is to be assumed that he'll be gone.
He wants the NHL, so he may look elsewhere.
Thus, I'm hoping the team will look something like:
G: Kochan, Sterling
D: Smith, Pettinen, Jarrett, Holub, Caldwell, Robinson
F: Bekar, Kraft, Hamilton, Kariya, Manlow, Collins,
Curtain, Mapletoft, Down, Colley
As always, the AHL team will change incredibly
through the course of the season, but starting off
by building around these guys should provide for
another successful AHL season.
Have a good one folks! Go USADate: Thu Aug 28, 2003 3:39 am
Subject: Re: Czerkawski newsI get a kick out of reading "The Rangers have been quiet thissummer having not signed any 'impact' players"
Give me a break. With the signings of Simon, Rucinsky and Hlavac, they have COMPLETELY remodelled their LW ensemble. Signing de Vries was also not insignificant. The Rangers have thus added four 25 point players this summer while only having lost one - Messier.
Speaking of Messier, these signings also might be an indication that they'll NOT come to terms with him. I even think they'll be better without him. That's OK anyways cause they'd be wise to find Lundmark some ice time. Let's also take into account that Bure is finished, that would STILL give the Rangers a potentially very, very potent lineup of:
Dunham
MarkkanenLeetch - Malakhov
Poti - Kasparaitus
de Vries - PurintonRucinsky - Lindros - Carter
Hlavac - Nedved - Kovalev
Simon - Holik - Barnaby
LaCouture - Lundmark - PetrovickySo media people, give us a friggin' break. This looks like yet another 70+ million roster and YES, the players the Rangers have signed should most DEFINITELY be impact players. I haven't seen any other team in the east even come close to signing four guys the quality of Simon, de Vries, Rucinsky and Hlavac. We'll say they only do the little bit they've been doing the past few seasons, I still see 20 pts and 150 PMs from Simon, 20 points and decent defense from de Vries, 35+ pts. from Rucinsky, and pretty much the same, if not better, from Hlavac, who will be re-united with Nedved, with whom he had his most success. Ohhhh ya, these are anything but impact moves.
Once again though, the Broadway Dollarwavers are trying to purchase their way back into the playoffs and honestly, I don't see any reason why they shouldn't find a way in there. Despite 6 years of playoff absence (yes, 6 sweet years), at some point, a lineup with this many effective players has GOT to achieve playoffdom.
I think this will be that year.