2025-2026 NHL Offseason

lukin2006

polaris_x said:

so ... i guess it was st. louis! ... i'm happy for him ...

I'm fine with that choice, he brings leadership having won a cup so he knows what it takes to win. I'd like to see Tavares on the top line with Crosby.

jms

I think Canada's D wins them the tournament. I'm biased being a Nashville season ticket holder but Shea Weber is the best all around defenseman in the World and playing the best hockey of his career this year. You put him with Doughty, Keith and Vlasic and then the two players from the Blues and you have a blueline nobody else in the tournament can match. I wish they had taken Seabrook instead of Hamhuis but that's not a huge difference.

Nobody else has more than 2 or 3 guys that would play on Canda's D.

polaris_x

jms said:

I think Canada's D wins them the tournament. I'm biased being a Nashville season ticket holder but Shea Weber is the best all around defenseman in the World and playing the best hockey of his career this year. You put him with Doughty, Keith and Vlasic and then the two players from the Blues and you have a blueline nobody else in the tournament can match. I wish they had taken Seabrook instead of Hamhuis but that's not a huge difference.

Nobody else has more than 2 or 3 guys that would play on Canda's D.

different ice ... different game ... we'll see tho ... i prefer hockey on the big ice ...

jms

polaris_x said:

jms said:

I think Canada's D wins them the tournament. I'm biased being a Nashville season ticket holder but Shea Weber is the best all around defenseman in the World and playing the best hockey of his career this year. You put him with Doughty, Keith and Vlasic and then the two players from the Blues and you have a blueline nobody else in the tournament can match. I wish they had taken Seabrook instead of Hamhuis but that's not a huge difference.

Nobody else has more than 2 or 3 guys that would play on Canda's D.

different ice ... different game ... we'll see tho ... i prefer hockey on the big ice ...

It's definitely a different game on big ice and a much better game at that and any of 6 or 7 countries has a goalie that can get hot and win a few games by themselves


It's really hard to predict the medal winners with the way they run the tournament now but I w ill say
1 Canada
2 Sweden
3 Finland

lukin2006

I think the difference for Canada this time on the big ice is coaching ... Simply Mike Babcock ... I'm not his biggest fan, but to bet that red wing team he had last yeat into the post season and to even have this team this year a in wild card position says a lot to me ... If any Canadian coach can game plan for the difference in ice surface size it's Babcock. With that said when it gets to the medal rounds 1 hot goalie can win the tournament, '98 the dominator. So there are probably 5-6 teams that could win but I like our chances.

lukin2006

No Henrik Sedin for Sweden

lukin2006

Or Daniel I can't keep them straight ... 1 of themselves not playing.

Indifference71

Man I can 't fucking wait for this olympic hockey tourney to get started. USA!

cutz

lukin2006 said:

No Henrik Sedin for Sweden

Didn't Sweden lose a D-man too?(I don't follow the NHL like i use to).

lukin2006

cutz said:

lukin2006 said:

No Henrik Sedin for Sweden

Didn't Sweden lose a D-man too?(I don't follow the NHL like i use to).

I'm not sure ... but they may have well lost Daniel Sedin as well. he not nearly as good without his brother ... or at least in any tournament thats not the cup finals.

cutz

Looks like Sweden will be hurting :

http://www.torontosun.com/2014/02/05/sweden-mens-hockey-enter-olympics-black-and-blue


Sweden men's hockey enter Olympics black and blue 0
2006 winners have a lot of question marks


SOCHI - They’ve already got some blue on the Swedish flag.

They might want to add a little black to sum up the physical state of the Swedish team heading into the Olympic tournament.

Everybody has got their share of nicks and aches heading into the Games, but the Swedes, especially at forward, have a lot of question marks.

Concussions have been an issue for Loui Eriksson of the Boston Bruins, Alexander Steen of the St. Louis Blues and Johan Franzen of the Detroit Red Wings. Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg has had issues with a herniated disc, while teammate Daniel Alfredsson has been battling groin issues.

Henrik Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks had his iron-man streak end at 679 games with what appeared to be a rib injury in a game against Phoenix.

On the blue line, Coyotes defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson missed some time with a concussion, but returned to the Coyotes lineup, Detroit’s Jonathan Ericsson has had rib issues and Vancouver’s Alex Edler missed a month with a lower-body injury.

As of this writing, those ailments don’t look like they will keep any of those players from competing in the Olympics, but they do leave you wondering just what kind of level they will be capable of reaching when the puck drops.

The Swedes are also a country in transition with a few veterans left from their 2006 gold-medal winning team and a bunch of Olympic rookies. Can this combination get the job done?

It’s pretty much been all or nothing for Sweden at the Olympics since NHLers joined the party.

It won gold in Italy in 2006, but finished fifth in the three other Olympic tournaments, including an upset for the ages in 2002 with a loss to Belarus on the infamous Vladimir Kopat goal on Swedish goaltender Tommy Salo.

FORWARDS: Sweden has a mix of veterans (Alfredsson, Franzen, the Sedins, Zetterberg) who might be somewhat past their best-before date and some kids getting their first big chance on the international stage like Gabriel Landeskog, Carl Hagelin, Marcus Kruger and Jakob Silfverberg. That leaves just a handful of guys in their prime. Can they get enough out of each group to be contenders?

DEFENCE: The Swedes might come close to having the most mobile group of defenders in the Olympic tournament. Ekman-Larsson and Erik Karlsson can skate with the best of them, while guys such as Niklas Kronwall and Edler add physicality. This is a strong two-way group that can pretty much play it any way you want it.

GOALTENDING: Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers had what amounts to a poor start for him in the first half. When’s the last time you saw him miss multiple games because of performance? He has looked a little more like his old self lately and that’s good news for the Tre Kroner. They will go as far as Lundqvist wants to take them.

COACHING: Par Marts, who’s been a fixture on the international scene behind the bench for Sweden at the world junior championships and world championships, takes over the Olympic team from Bengt Ake Gustafsson. He won’t be afraid to push the attack, which could make for some entertaining hockey on Sweden’s part.

3. Last three Olympics: Vancouver: Fifth; Turin: Gold; Salt Lake City: Fifth.

4. The roster:

FORWARDS: Daniel Alfredsson, Detroit Red Wings (NHL); Nicklas Backstrom, Washington Capitals (NHL); Patrik Berglund, St. Louis Blues (NHL); Jimmie Ericsson, Skellefteå AIK (SWE); Loui Eriksson, Boston Bruins (NHL); Carl Hagelin, New York Rangers (NHL); Marcus Kruger, Chicago Blackhawks (NHL); Gabriel Landeskog, Colorado Avalanche (NHL); Daniel Sedin, Vancouver Canucks (NHL); Henrik Sedin, Vancouver Canucks (NHL); Jakob Silfverberg, Anaheim Ducks (NHL); Alexander Steen, St. Louis Blues (NHL); Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Red Wings (NHL).

DEFENCE: Alexander Edler, Vancouver Canucks (NHL); Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Phoenix Coyotes (NHL); Jonathan Ericsson, Detroit Red Wings (NHL); Niklas Hjalmarsson, Chicago Blackhawks (NHL); Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators (NHL); Niklas Kronwall, Detroit Red Wings (NHL); Johnny Oduya, Chicago Blackhawks (NHL); Henrik Tallinder, Buffalo Sabres (NHL).

GOALTENDING: Jhonas Enroth, Buffalo Sabres (NHL); Jonas Gustavsson, Detroit Red Wings (NHL); Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers (NHL).

NOTABLE SNUBS: Tampa Bay defenceman Victor Hedman; Minnesota Wild defenceman Jonas Brodin.


5. Stevenson’s bottom line: Sweden heads into Sochi with the potential to be great, but there a lot of question marks. Looks like another all-or-fifth scenario.

righteousbabe

Just read on nhl.com that Kris Letang had a stroke. Pretty crazy.

lukin2006

righteousbabe said:

Just read on nhl.com that Kris Letang had a stroke. Pretty crazy.

wow .... you don't expect it from pro athletes ... however Teddi Brushi from the Patriots had a stroke.

righteousbabe

lukin2006 said:

righteousbabe said:

Just read on nhl.com that Kris Letang had a stroke. Pretty crazy.

wow .... you don't expect it from pro athletes ... however Teddi Brushi from the Patriots had a stroke.

They are saying that he had a hole in his heart and it may have stemmed from that. Perhaps the craziest thing is that they think he may be ready to play again in 6 weeks.

lukin2006

I heard 6 weeks ... thats unbelievable, and with the break he'll only miss 4 weeks ... more importantly, here hoping for a good recovery.

pjhawks

lukin2006 said:

I heard 6 weeks ... thats unbelievable, and with the break he'll only miss 4 weeks ... more importantly, here hoping for a good recovery.

heard 6 weeks but supposedly that is really the time frame until his next check up so they expect it to be at least 12 weeks. freaking crazy for a guy so young and healthy.

polaris_x

Tavares out for the season with injury to MCL

lukin2006

Montreal pre-game ceremonies honouring some of the gold winning female and male members of team Canada along with having the crowd sing the national anthem was exceptional.

Habs honour Canadian Olympic hockey gold medallists

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/habs-honour-canadian-olympic-hockey-gold-medallists-1.2552986

with video

polaris_x

crazy ... like only 5 teams truly out of playoff contention ... in the entire league ...

lukin2006

polaris_x said:

crazy ... like only 5 teams truly out of playoff contention ... in the entire league ...

I imagine that's what the NHL was hoping for with the salary cap, and mission accomplished. I just wish they would move the trade deadline to early February.