All-purpose hockey thread...

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

Interesting article, especially the embedded link to buy Bob and Doug McKenzie action figures. I'm not making this up.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

As an Oilers fan, I'll be stoked if Schremp turns out to be 3/4s the player 87 is. He can get up and down the ice well enough, but the Oilers don't need a burner. They need a guy wiuth skill who can put the puck in the net and that's what Schremp can do. There have been a hell of a lot of good players in the NHL who didn't exactly excel at skating - Luc Robitaille (sp?), Adam Oates, Brett Hull, etc. these were all guys who were known more for their scoring touch or skill set then their skating ability and all three should be headed to the hall one day. And Schremp has all the motivation in the world to be a success. He's not going to be a lazy piece of shit and rest on his skills alone. After being passed over for most of the first round of the draft (landed at Edmonton with a pick in the mid-20s when he should have gone in the ttp 10 because of an over blown story about him requesting a trade from his Jr. team turning into him suddenly having an attitude problem) he is more than motivated to show others they were wrong. I've actually never heard his skating was a problem up until now. It has always been his two-way game that was deficeint, and that's why he was sent back to Jr. this year.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

Well, I got a look at the Ottawas the other night and, if that team's designed for the new NHL, then I'm all for it. I'd pay to see those guys skate. That's a damned good hockey team.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

Mr 03,

Schremp's skating is wobbly, sez four scouts out of five that I talk too. Exposed particularly at world jr level. If surrounding talent can hide that, he can play some role. It's probably too much to hope that he's three-quarters the player that Mike Richards is. Best leave comparisons to 87 out of it. How do you think London with 87 would fare against Rimouski with Schremp? I know the Mem final wasn't close but the first-round game was a nail-biter OT for the home team.

YHS, etc

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

Well I haven't talked to the scouts about Schremp, I was just going on what I had read and heard, and like I said the only part of his game that was supposedly lacking was in his defensive play. In terms of skating ability the Oilers can make up for Schremp's aparent lack there of, they need someone who can put the puck in the net, particularaly on the pp.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

Of the two Knights, I'd take David Bolland over Schremp.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

Mr 03,

RS's defensive liability = his below average skating.

It's not that he won't, he can't.

Like I say, I can't say he won't play 400 games -- if you get your first-round money, you shoehorn the guy into your line-up for three seasons and see. These days it's not "who plays?"--it's "who doesn't?"

YHS, etc

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

Veterans Day doubleheader at MCI Center; the Sonics and Wizards played a lame sport where the players wear shorts at night. ;D

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

Well then, he'll have three seasons to prove himself. I know the Oilers are encredibly high on the guy. They have enough defensive forwards that they can make up for his weakness in that category. I'm not about to write him off, especially when they need a pure goal scorer, which is what Schremp is, if he's anything.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

Mr 03,

Old line applies--he has to play on your first two lines or he can't help you.

YHS, etc

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

Who says he won't play on the first two lines? Hell they even had Jani Rita playing on the first two lines off and on. If they still have Peca next year (would have to be at a considerably reduced rate, contract likely will be extended after Jan. 1, they tried to do it in the rpeseason then were told by the league they couldn't until the new year) he'd fit in great on his wing as a trigger man (talk is because of who they have at centre and the need for another scoring winger, they'll convert him to the wing), can't be any worse than Radek Dvorak is now with his two goals on the season. Besides, whoever said your top two lines of forwards had to be your best defensive forwards? You want scoring out of those two lines. How is Allison's +/- rating doing anyways?

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

Mr 03,

You have missed my pt completely.

Comparable: Andrew Brunette. He doesn't skate well enough nor is he tough enough to play on the third line. Fourth line? Limited shifts don't work, not an energy type. He has to play on your first two lines. No one could put together the fact that every time he was called up in Wash he scored but was sent back down when a player came back from injury. A complementary player on your first two lines who is dead weight anywhere else. If Schremp isn't on your first two lines and either PP unit, why would you have him stinkin up a dressing room with his farts?

You said: "Besides, whoever said your top two lines of forwards had to be your best defensive forwards?" The answer: Nobody. It's completely the opposite of my pt. He has to score to help you at all--which is why he'd be bone useless on line three (your checking line) and four (energy line of guys who can move up into slots on the first three lines). So he'd have to score more than Radek Dvorak ... possible, but no lock. Rita is no scorer but he could be an Andreas Dackell type--good skater, responsible, first back--who's job on the first line or second isn't to score but to free up those who do.

Allison's +-? Whaaa-a? I'm tempted to say, "who's she?" But his lack of skating doesn't leave him much of a place to play with Sundin's return and Lindros's (suprising) re-emergence. Same deal, not good enough skating/defensively to play third line.

Hey keep going ... you're making my points for me even if you don't mean to.

YHS, etc