I have changed what I want as an outcome on Tuesday to “long shots run wild,” as I now want both 15 slot Red Wings and 16 slot Blues to win the lottery, take their new slot at 5 & 6 and the hawks pick second with no drop or lottery draft win counting against them…
- wiz1901

If all that were to happen I’ll get you to buy me a lottery ticket.

I have changed what I want as an outcome on Tuesday to “long shots run wild,” as I now want both 15 slot Red Wings and 16 slot Blues to win the lottery, take their new slot at 5 & 6 and the hawks pick second with no drop or lottery draft win counting against them…
- wiz1901

My favorite part of that would be the Devils losing their draft pick.

I have changed what I want as an outcome on Tuesday to “long shots run wild,” as I now want both 15 slot Red Wings and 16 slot Blues to win the lottery, take their new slot at 5 & 6 and the hawks pick second with no drop or lottery draft win counting against them…
- wiz1901

I’d be ok with that.

He's backed into his net protecting against the low shot and gets beat short side over his shoulder. Big time goalies don't give up a goal like that in that situation.

And Kelly Hrudey called him out for not playing the puck on the OT goal.

And this Toronto excuse making that Woll would have been the difference is just silly. He played 2 good games in the series when the Leafs decided to play real tight defence. Woll seems injury prone, missed a lot of games.
- RickJ

I kept switching back and forth of the Canadian and ESPN feed. I really like Ferraro and the Leaf's guys are really good but when that puck bounced in front of Samsonov and I thought he easily coulda played the thing I made it a point to listen to Hrudey after the tilt. And sure enough he thought so too. ..... Most anyone who played goal I think would agree.

But yea, Samsonov to too deep in his net as he often has trouble with his depth. He's not that good a goalie and shoulda stopped the first one but I can understand there were a couple bodies in the way.

A goalie will always think I shoulda had that one, any one. It either goes in or not and you're charged with not allowing pucks in, screened, deflected, doesn't matter. You find ways but realisticially a lot is outa your control, but you gotta find a way.

Mr Ricochet, I love the way the words,"First pair defenseman" get bandied about.

I always wonder how anyone determines that beofre they see the dfensers against NHL forwards who can dominate games.

I hardly think that the Maple Leafs make-over includes one of the players who played his bags off, being traded. #23.
- wiz1901

Wiz, everyone is projecting on prospects whether they're Dmen or not. Managers, scouts, you, me. It's all projection. I try not to be hyperbolic but there are players I'll die on a hill for and D!ckinson and Buium are 2 of those guys. ....... You don't project top pairing Dmen in the two kids?

And I'd ask what is the most over drafted position and why? IMO Dmen are first in line then power forwards and centerman. Three of the hardest slots to fill and when you see a kid that checks 8 outa ten boxes you salivate just as you try and squeeze some square pegs in round holes, cuz those kinds are so valuable and hard to find,.

Make sure you get a look at Parekh the series Saginaw just lost to London. Kid was ordinary at best. No impact on anything. ..... Hope he's dinged cuz if not he's fallen outa the top 8.

Trevor Connelly probably cost the USA the Gold. And for himself maybe some positioniing spot in the draft.

Foolish, selfish penalty.
- RickJ

Ritchie was tied up with another American along the wall, no danger to anything, and Connelly comes crashing into him and makes contact to the head... 5 minute Major, Canada erases a US lead with 3 goals on the Major and Canada gets the Gold.

Yep, dumb penalty but one you'll see from 18 yr olds. Tough way to lose the Gold, for sure. ....... The Candian kid in goal, Carter George was very good.

Well Reichel has a PP goal and the Icehogs are even at one apiece near the end of period one.

Reichel started with Philip and Teply rounding out this line. Comesso is in net.

An Icehog victory would knot the series 2-2.

A win Sunday would mean a triple header sweep in Chicagoland sports since the Cubs and White Sox already chalked up a victory

Saginaw will now wait for the champions of the WHL , OHL and QMJHL to be determined for the Memorial Cup beginning May23. If Parekh was playing hurt in the OHL playoffs this will give him some time to get better and hopefully show what he’s capable of. Or it might expose him as a regular season superstar.

69% of the NHL used LTIR to go over the cap during the season. Toronto was over the most at $14.5 mil., Tampa was 2nd at $ 10 mil. Then Vegas at a little over $ 8 mil.

#23 Knies

Wiz
Could you tell the board what you think about Del Maestro liklihood to become a solid defender for a decade? And whether the notion that he has slow feet is an overrated opinion

recall when he was drafted that some reporting said that he needed to work on his skating

I cannot say much about his skating because I have not focused much on his skating
- jhawk59

You'd here a blurb or two about Del Mastro's skating but it wasn't an issue to most. .. It was me who posted I was taken aback by his heavy feet on his 2 game callup. Even posted his feet were so heavy it could be a deal breaker.

Asked on the board if anyone thought so, not 1 response.

Look, I'm a Del Mastro guy. Love that a couple yrs back he was left off the U-20 WJC roster, got called up just before the tournament started due to injury, worked his way into the rotation then worked his way to 2nd pairing and was a shutdown guy for that Canadian squad. KK on the other hand fell in the rotation on that same team...... Says much to me that he keeps his head down, takes coaching and just gets to work. Also says his skating was good enough to accomplish that especially reaching 2nd pairing shutdown guy..... He also made the squad as a 20 yr old.

Saw him 2 games at RKF and he looked fine. Every time I've seen the kid his skating was balanced and at least average until this callup. Hell, I could be wrong but I saqw really heavy feet....... We'll see come camp.

Saginaw will now wait for the champions of the WHL , OHL and QMJHL to be determined for the Memorial Cup beginning May23. If Parekh was playing hurt in the OHL playoffs this will give him some time to get better and hopefully show what he’s capable of. Or it might expose him as a regular season superstar.
- paulr

Just noticed North Bay clubbed Oshawa in Game 6 extending the series to a Game 7. .. Great for the fan. Hope Oshawa wins it cuz what little I've seen of the series Oshawa is the better club and will give London a better series.

Wiz, everyone is projecting on prospects whether they're Dmen or not. Managers, scouts, you, me. It's all projection. I try not to be hyperbolic but there are players I'll die on a hill for and D!ckinson and Buium are 2 of those guys. ....... You don't project top pairing Dmen in the two kids?

And I'd ask what is the most over drafted position and why? IMO Dmen are first in line then power forwards and centerman. Three of the hardest slots to fill and when you see a kid that checks 8 outa ten boxes you salivate just as you try and squeeze some square pegs in round holes, cuz those kinds are so valuable and hard to find,.

Make sure you get a look at Parekh the series Saginaw just lost to London. Kid was ordinary at best. No impact on anything. ..... Hope he's dinged cuz if not he's fallen outa the top 8.
- Mr Ricochet

I have not seen any of this defensive prospects group as players who going to project to go before forward help.
Both Buium and Richardinson have showed you enough that they can cut in front of the long line of left shooting defnsemen?
They still need guns up front. They need size up front.

I see Richardson as a Dion Phaneuf, and
Buium as a Montour type.

and it is gonna take tons of work for them to get to fill those comparisons.

Futhermore we are not slectiong 6th or 7th where I have them landing.

Not trying to put it in a breakdown, but if you want a dynamic guy who COULD become a top all around guy, maybe you want Carter Yakemchuk and see how he ramps up his development.

But I find the idea of your opinions as note worhty as there MAY be teams picking in 2nd so I hope that one of them gets taken to open the choices for the Hawks at forward.

Further lottery draft "winning" from the NHL rulebook:

"No single team will be able to advance in the Draft order by reason of winning a Lottery Draw more than two (2) times in any five (5) year period. This limitation will not affect a Club’s ability to retain its presumptive Draft position in any Draft Lottery, nor would it preclude the possibility of the Club moving down in Draft Order to the extent other Clubs advance by reason of winning the Lottery Draws. For purposes of clarity, the limitation would attach to the team, not the specific pick.

By way of example, if a Club were to win the first Lottery Draw as the 7th Worst-Finishing Club in Year 1 (thereby earning the First Overall Selection in the succeeding Draft), and the second Lottery Draw as the 13th Worst-Finishing Club in Year 3 (thereby earning the Third Overall Selection in the succeeding Draft), that Club would no longer be eligible to benefit by winning a Lottery Draw in either of Year 4 or Year 5, and would not be able to benefit again by winning the Draft Lottery (or either of the Draft Lottery Draws) until Year 6 at the earliest."

Anaheim didn't "win" last year as they moved down. If the Sharks get 1st overall pick this year, it is not a win as they didn't move up in the draft lottery.

Drama in NY

Further lottery draft "winning" from the NHL rulebook:

"No single team will be able to advance in the Draft order by reason of winning a Lottery Draw more than two (2) times in any five (5) year period. This limitation will not affect a Club’s ability to retain its presumptive Draft position in any Draft Lottery, nor would it preclude the possibility of the Club moving down in Draft Order to the extent other Clubs advance by reason of winning the Lottery Draws. For purposes of clarity, the limitation would attach to the team, not the specific pick.

By way of example, if a Club were to win the first Lottery Draw as the 7th Worst-Finishing Club in Year 1 (thereby earning the First Overall Selection in the succeeding Draft), and the second Lottery Draw as the 13th Worst-Finishing Club in Year 3 (thereby earning the Third Overall Selection in the succeeding Draft), that Club would no longer be eligible to benefit by winning a Lottery Draw in either of Year 4 or Year 5, and would not be able to benefit again by winning the Draft Lottery (or either of the Draft Lottery Draws) until Year 6 at the earliest."

Anaheim didn't "win" last year as they moved down. If the Sharks get 1st overall pick this year, it is not a win as they didn't move up in the draft lottery.
- wizardofi

The way i read this is if they retain the 2nd pick even if the Sharks pick 3rd we don't get penalized for it?

The way i read this is if they retain the 2nd pick even if the Sharks pick 3rd we don't get penalized for it?
- BetweenTheDots

No, it wouldn't count as a win since we didn't move up in the draft

Just noticed North Bay clubbed Oshawa in Game 6 extending the series to a Game 7. .. Great for the fan. Hope Oshawa wins it cuz what little I've seen of the series Oshawa is the better club and will give London a better series.
- Mr Ricochet

Oshawa have a couple guys who are expected to go in the top two or three rounds. Beckett Sennecke a big fast winger who’s stock is rising and Ben Danford an undersized, good skating, feisty defenseman who will probably go later in the second or early third.

I kept switching back and forth of the Canadian and ESPN feed. I really like Ferraro and the Leaf's guys are really good but when that puck bounced in front of Samsonov and I thought he easily coulda played the thing I made it a point to listen to Hrudey after the tilt. And sure enough he thought so too. ..... Most anyone who played goal I think would agree.

But yea, Samsonov to too deep in his net as he often has trouble with his depth. He's not that good a goalie and shoulda stopped the first one but I can understand there were a couple bodies in the way.

A goalie will always think I shoulda had that one, any one. It either goes in or not and you're charged with not allowing pucks in, screened, deflected, doesn't matter. You find ways but realisticially a lot is outa your control, but you gotta find a way.
- Mr Ricochet

Justin Bourne's take on Boston's Goal #1 - "Positional save - if Samsonov is big and square the puck just hits him".

Not saying the Bruins wouldn't have tied the game later but a top NHL goalie does allow a goal on that shot.

Justin Bourne's take on Boston's Goal #1 - "Positional save - if Samsonov is big and square the puck just hits him".

Not saying the Bruins wouldn't have tied the game later but a top NHL goalie does not allow a goal on that shot.
- RickJ

Justin Bourne's take on Boston's Goal #1 - "Positional save - if Samsonov is big and square the puck just hits him".

Not saying the Bruins wouldn't have tied the game later but a top NHL goalie does allow a goal on that shot.
- RickJ

If the Leafs were designed to be a playoff team every player would have picked up an opponent on the rush. Like the 2010 cup win, a great defensive system can compensate for average goaltending.

Imagine if Shanahan had kept Hunter instead of Dumbass? I guarantee he wouldn’t have figure skaters on the team and the team would be built for the playoffs.

If the Leafs were designed to be a playoff team every player would have picked up an opponent on the rush. Like the 2010 cup win, a great defensive system can compensate for average goaltending.

Imagine if Shanahan had kept Hunter instead of Dumbass? I guarantee he wouldn’t have figure skaters on the team and the team would be built for the playoffs.
- paulr

Agreed… the “Core 4” approach is at the expense of a solid blueline and bottom six effectiveness. Also, Keefe is no Q when it comes to in-game adjustments. Taken all together - it’s no mystery why TOR has had playoff disappointment.

Stars give up such easy goals

Stars give up such easy goals
- BetweenTheDots

How is either of these teams going home in the first round. Man i hate the playoff format.

Ya some blown coverage bang back of the net.

Hogs lose 3-1

Went to the IceHogs game. Reichel's 2 goals were NHL quality for sure. 5 on 5 did not do much. Lots of blind passes that were turnovers. Commesso let in a bad goal in the first but was a brick wall in the 2nd period with a couple of great saves. I know there are a lot of Kaiser fans here and he did play hard but lost his edge several times and didn't do much. Phillips took a selfish penalty. Did not add much offense. Didn't hit anybody. Roos could have been called for 5 cross checks. Did not add much. Crevier was not noticeable which is pretty good for him. I've seen DelMastro a few times live and he looks slow to me. I noticed he was not racing to get into plays. Does looks solid along boards. Knocked pucks out of the air. I don't think Strand is a prospect but he played hard. Not too much there to be excited about.

The highlight of the game was running into Vosters between the 2nd and 3rd. He's polarizing I know. Foley is a tough act to follow. I think if the this was a 100 point team he would sound a lot better. Class act. Answered everything I asked him.

Of the Hogs roster he said he was hoping Reichel would pan out. Likes the young D. Said it is going to take more time because the real prospects have not made it to the Hogs yet.

I asked him if it was hard to be critical of the players now that he travels with them and knows them well. Said he lets Pang be critical because he played in the NHL.

Said he's still recovering from the season. Watching every playoff game, reading, studying the league. NBC hired him for the Paris Olympics. Not sure what sport but working it from NBC studios in New York.