It's time for Winnipeg to get a new coach. While this group is still just the Atlanta Thrashers roster re-branded, Noel doesn't seem to be able to get anything out of this group.
Yeah, some of the group shares the blame too. I mean, Byfuglien should have gotten more assists on Sunday from helping out on a couple of Pittsburgh's goals.
Well, Noel's been fired, along with one of the assistant coaches. http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sp...nding-in-right-direction-Chevy-239837101.html Still have to address issues with the players though. Last night's game against Columbus was terrible. Up 2-0 at the end of the first period and then give up 4 goals in a row in the second period? That's on the players.
Is Paul Maurice really the answer? Wasn't surprised to see Noel go, but was shocked to see him as the replacement.
Anyone watch the game at Dodger Stadium last night? It looked like most of the people there (fans, announcers and athletes) had a great time. KISS is always a hoot to watch perform. But it definitely did not have the same impact or vibe as this year's Winter Classic. I'll be curious to see if today's game at Yankee Stadium feels closer to it. It'll be almost as cold.
I watched a bit of the game and KISS lip syncing was painful. The NHL has gone from "We want to grow the game" to "Hey, come out for these couple of events per events and we don't care about the rest." The Winter Classic was something special and its going to be watered down by having six or seven of these a year. I predicted Claude Noel's firing, is Michel Therrien of the free-falling Canadiens next? Which francophone do they throw in there to be the interim coach?
Watched hockey turn into pinball yesterday: [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWzzCnf2xSc[/yt] Maybe he'll learn to not try to get out of the zone by skating near the goalie next time. The best part starts in the replay at about the 1 minute mark.
This is one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time. [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LprzxFAoH9w[/yt]
That was a pretty cheap and unnecessary shot by Montoya. I can see why the Habs fans were upset. The Jets kept him tied up in the zone and the Habs had to keep holding back their attack for fear of being offside. In other news, apparently Kris Letang suffered a stroke last week!
So here's the $64,000 question: the next Olympics in South Korea, NHLers or no NHLers? I think you can't have a successful games without them, especially since we've have a taste. I only watched the hockey this time around and having a bunch of guys who weren't good enough to make the NHL and have pretty much washed out of hockey would just be boring.
I totally agree. Watching Olympic hockey before NHLers was no fun. You have to wonder how hard the negotiations are going to be to get them there again though. Based on Garth Snow's blasting of the Olympics over losing Tavares, the same concerns have to be on a lot of owner's and GM's minds.
I'm of the mind that the Olympics should have remained a purely amateur endeavor (with some common sense adjustments to the rules to allow for modern sponsorships, etc.) It wasn't a perfect system, but the Olympics used to be about competition, not winning. So while I thoroughly enjoyed the hockey we saw this year (and previous Olympics, Salt Lake City and Vancouver come to mind), that tells me we should just bring back the Canada Cup and return the Olympics to an amateur competition. But that's no more likely to happen than the NHL adopting Olympic-sized ice sheets. So for as long as professional athletes are allowed in The Games, the NHL might as well send their players to compete. BTW .... I'm loving the atmospherics of the game in Chicago tonight.
I disagree with the idea that because NHLers are making millions of dollars it should somehow preclude them from playing in the Olympics. Olympians are the best of the best in their sport and if that is NHL players, so be it. If I wanted to watch amateurs play hockey, I'd tune in the Spengler Cup. If the NHL owners want to stop players from going, there will be a revolt, especially from European players. Is the NHL ready to cripple itself if they decide to lockout players who decide to choose National Pride? In other news, Ryan Miller is dealt to St. Louis. Buffalo basically did everything they could to screw themselves out of re-signing this guy and gave him up for two players in Halak and Stewart who don't figure to be around very long. This is going to be a complete tear down and rebuild and since Pat LaFontaine resigned today, I don't think Ted Nolan will be around either to see it.
Luongo is finally out of Vancouver. It's just one of those moments that you think would never come and then you don't know how to feel when it comes.
I don't think Luongo was treated very well in his tenure here. And even though it's been said he wanted to go back to FLA, I don't see why a 35 year old netminder would want to close out his career for arguably the worst team in the NHL, with a non existent fanbase. With fucking headcase Tim Thomas to boot. I think Luongo is a stand up guy and wish him nothing but the best, I wish it had worked out better up here for him. Regarding the return, last year at this time we had Luongo and Schneider, probably the best goaltending tandem in the NHL. Now we have Bo Horvat, Jakob Markstrom and 3rd line guy Shawn Mattias. I don't think that's a very good return for those assets, although it still is early for Horvat and Markstrom. Looks like we are in full rebuild, wonder if this means Kesler is gone for sure tomorrow.
This makes the Cam Neely/ for Barry Peterson trade look Brilliant, WTF hang Gillis, before he really screws the team Wednesday. Gillis wont last the season, if not the week.
Scary moment for Rich Peverley last night. You've gotta wonder if he should keep playing with a condition like that.