Running 2007 NHL regular season thread

Jason Smith gets the C for Philly ...

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=219645&hubname=

The Philadelphia Flyers announced Monday that defenceman Jason Smith will be the team's new captain for the 2007-08 season.

The Flyers acquired Smith, along with forward Joffrey Lupul in a trade for blueliner Joni Pitkanen on July 1.

 

And Ron Maclean's back on HNIC for seven more years.

http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071001.wsptcbc1/GSStory/GlobeSportsHockey/home

Guy's best moment: host of Hockey Day in Canada. He does a fabulous job.

Guy's worst: bitching endlessly about the refereeing. He sounds like Pierre McGuire.

 

They will find out that he plays better without the weight of the 'C'. He's a good leader, I will never challenge his leadership ability, but I thought he regressed as an overall player once he was named captain in Edmonton. He was better when he could lead from the pack without having to be "the Guy".

 

Thank god Nancy Lee wasn't there doing the negotiations this time around with McLean. Can you imagine if she did not buckle down to public pressure...
The reason McLean was signed to seven years may have to do with the NHL contract with CBC that runs until 2013-2014 season.

I know this is off topic, but JR in that article you posted, there is mention of the ratings for sports talk radio audiences.
The thing I want to point out in that is the reason McCown's rating may have gone up is that the Rogers news channels carry the last hour of his show (7-8ppm my time). News 95.7 carries it in Halifax. I am only wondering if that has anything to do with McCown's increase in ratings.

I wish Rogers news radio would carry the FAN instead of ESPN. It seems like a better fit and it's Canadian.

 

Hey, maybe some good news for Toronto?

http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=219698&hubname=

Sources tell TSN Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mark Bell is expected to be reinstated today, ending his indefinite suspension after being placed into stage two of the NHL's substance abuse program last month.

Bell will now begin serving the additional 15 game suspension handed down by the National Hockey League and won't make his Maple Leafs debut until November 6th in Ottawa.

 

Unless Tosakal and Raycroft transform themselves into Patrick Fuckin' Roy, there is no good news for Toronto.

 

Ditto to that!

 

Oh come on now, JR, even Patty needed a defence to help him out.

 

Actually Flash, you have a point.....

Is there anything good on the Leafs team this season?

 

Well, he singlehandedly won the Cup for the Habs in '85-86 and again in 92/93 and was pretty handy with the AvS

Leafs had something resembling that goaltending with Cujo and Belfour (except for his last year).

Now they have two guys channeling Patrick Lalime and Garth Snow.

On

 

I respectfully disagree ... the teams he had playing in front of him in those Cup-winning years were too good to not win ... Now if you want to point to the years where he had no one in front of him, you'll see his GAA and SV% are remarkably different ... unlike a guy such as Martin Brodeur who busts his ass to answer his team can win, no matter how crappy the players are.

 

Roy had talented teammates who were his supporting cast. In 1996, there was a reason why Sakic won MVP, even though the Avs won game four of that series 1-0 in OT on a Uwe Krupp goal. Sakic's stats were impressive. He also boasts the most overtime goals in playoffs (7). He also has 18 game winning goals in the playoffs, many of which came in series where Roy was in the pipes. In 1996 and 2001, Sakic had the most points in the playoff (34 in 1996, 26 in 2001)And in game 7 of the Stanley Cup final between the Avs and Devils in 2001, it was the offence and defencemen that really won the game. Tanguay scored in the second period and the team ended up winning 3-1 in that game. The Avs defence was the best in the league (my opinion) and the addition of rent a player Bourque that year, they were unstoppable.

While Roy was a part of the Avs success, he was not the main reason they won those two Cups.