Might be right- I thought Kubina would shadow Ovechkin the game in D.C., but he was scratched- we'll see if Torts continues to target weaker links in the opposition game.
I think the Caps can beat anyone (but only on a 3-2 score, LOL), and can be beaten by anyone. So it's hard to guess how they'll play. I think we're not going to lose badly too often from now on. Only once in a while.
Boyle scores! 1-1. Kolbe: "Olie Kolzig got a piece of it, but not enough... It went through a screen... not sure that Olie Kolzig was even able to see that shot."
If TB dressed the same lineup against Cal in the last Cup finals.............they would have lost !
I need a little upset on the ice to make my hockey experience a good one.
Locker had Phil Esposito as an interview just now- Espo says AO will pot 60-70 some day, "Maybe he'll do it this season!"- he seemed quite impressed with the kid.
There's little to say about the new names: Ranger, Tarnasky and Artyukhin are not overly talented players, and had average numbers in the AHL last season.
But TAK, they still have two excellent scoring lines, with years of chemistry, and good d-men. I believe only three players on their opening-night lineup were not present in the Stanley Cup winning game. One of them being Khabibulin, though.
This message has been edited by marc_mehdi on Oct 28, 2005 8:28 PM
Selanne's rookie record is probably safe (76-56-132, but he was 2 years older than Ovechkin), but I think Ovechkin can score 50 as soon as this year. Jagr will score more.
Forsberg has a goal and an assist tonight, so far, and joined Jagr at the top of the league with 17 points. Staal scored his 7th goal of the year, and has now 16 points. Gagne had his 15th point, also.
Ovechkin is now 8-5-13 in 11 games (Crosby had 2 crappy goals and 12 crappy assists in 10 crappy games, LOL).
The interview was mostly how he got involved in bringing hockey to TB- he said "First, I went to (don't remember the town he said), they wouldn't let me in the building.... then I went to Miami, they wouldn't let me in the building.... so I came to Tampa. They told me stay away from Texas, so I went to Florida instead. I knew they wanted to expand in the south, just didn't know where."
Heward got an assist on the SHG, by the way. He now has as many points as Gonchar, I believe. And Eminger has more! Eminger is one of the top defensemen in the league in points and plus/minus, and Heward one of those with the best ice time per game.
Sykora's tied for 4th in points in this team, and tied for 3rd in goals. I think he deserves to play here. Let's not forget that he missed preseason. Friesen and Cassels too. Let's give them ten more games.
I believe Friesen-Cassels-Sykora can be a very decent second scoring line, with 60-70 goals this season (their line was on pace for only 33 goals after 10 games, though). Plus they're good at shootout.
Staal has a couple of bro's coming up to the NHL.
I do believe the Rangers drafted one of brothers in the first round(last draft).
Staal's= the Sutter's.
Not picking on anyone, but the Caps' whole demeanor changed around the time Sykora (and Bradley, I notice) disappeared from the game. Neither one has any appreciable TOI since very early in the 2nd period. Hanlon's still looking for chemistry, but he may have been his own worst enemy tonight.
To explain Sykora's relative absence, Roger: he doesn't play on the PK. Each time we were short-handed, he disappeared. The rest of the time, he had a regular shift, except at the end of the game, when Ovechkin spent most of the time on the ice, and in the middle of the second period, where we miss data for the Caps (looks like they had problems for about 5 minutes, because I don't think that the Morrisonn-Green pairing had a 2:45-long shift). The Friesen-Cassels-Sykora line is -2, though; that could explain why they didn't play much.
Actually, it's Zubrus who left the game, apparently. Now, that's strange. I expect more from Zubrus and Halpern, by the way. Halpern spent 26:08 on the ice , but only registered one missed shot, and lost most of his faceoffs.
This message has been edited by marc_mehdi on Oct 28, 2005 10:17 PM This message has been edited by marc_mehdi on Oct 28, 2005 10:16 PM
Witt to the box.
, but only registered one missed shot, and lost most of his faceoffs.