Seattle Sockeye is more like it. Steelheads would be good except there's already at least two hockey teams call that.
- Beaver-Warrior

If it wouldn't be seen as racist, they could go a fighting Indians route.

The Core - the SC hat trick group - also included Sharp, Hossa, and Hammer. Credit where credit is due.
- pdx2ord

Shaw and Bickell. Saad fell into it and they couldn't keep him, he was SUPPOSED to be core. Kruger and Smith came up big. Tvr and Rosi were a nice tandem, limited, but effective, unless breakaways. That was part of my point, the core kept getting lessened and lessened.

Seattle Seamen

Seattle Seamen
- BetweenTheDots

A crew member on a naval ship or schmegma?

A crew member on a naval ship or schmegma?
- I Am The Breadman

Of course the first

Yea unfortunately he doesn't get it, too bad, he's a decent hockey player
- BetweenTheDots

391 GP
35 goals
69 assists
104 pts
806 PM
4 PPP

1/4 pt per game player; there is nothing decent about him...

here is the resume for the caps 5 mildo per assassin...no wonder ADB and Smaltz agents are smiling...

http://www.sportingnews.c...k3plwl8lfkot11flpw7ah3yf7

Of course the first
- BetweenTheDots

Good luck selling that.

391 GP
35 goals
69 assists
104 pts
806 PM
4 PPP

1/4 pt per game player; there is nothing decent about him...

here is the resume for the caps 5 mildo per assassin...no wonder ADB and Smaltz agents are smiling...

http://www.sportingnews.c...k3plwl8lfkot11flpw7ah3yf7
- bogiedoc

Power Forward that can skate, make plays, and be a force playing on the Caps 1st line for their entire Championship run. Stupid kid that crosses the line too much, but every NHL player and coach would love him on their team.

Shaw and Bickell. Saad fell into it and they couldn't keep him, he was SUPPOSED to be core. Kruger and Smith came up big. Tvr and Rosi were a nice tandem, limited, but effective, unless breakaways. That was part of my point, the core kept getting lessened and lessened.
- I Am The Breadman

Understood what you meant, but to me the capital-c Core will always be and only be those seven guys who were there for all three recent Cups.

Understood what you meant, but to me the capital-c Core will always be and only be those seven guys who were there for all three recent Cups.
- pdx2ord

Just asking, was Crow and Hammer there in 10?

Just asking, was Crow and Hammer there in 10?
- I Am The Breadman

No

Hjalmarsson yes, Crawford No

No

Hjalmarsson yes, Crawford No
- TheTrob

Thanks.

Power Forward that can skate, make plays, and be a force playing on the Caps 1st line for their entire Championship run. Stupid kid that crosses the line too much, but every NHL player and coach would love him on their team.
- EnzoD

you can have him...one more hit like that...and i hope the league bans this "everyone would like to have" jagbag for good. And running players in the head repeatedly with 4 suspensions in 105 games along with a number egregious non calls is not "just crossing the line". He plays over that line consistently.

touchdown caps..

Z3, my man, I love your optimism. I love the cockiness even more. Either way we win. Say we suck, enter the "don't do jack for Jack race" a total help to any team. Say we make it to the playoffs, we prove a lot wrong, have good young guys and good rejuvenated guys, and can make it to the playoffs again. I'm on your side, a playoff spot is not out of the cards. With Crow, anything is possible.
- I Am The Breadman

Long term goal for the organization should be to rebuild, as fast as possible, to return to championship contention as fast as possible.

By rooting/hoping for us to eek out a playoff spot against all odds you're just delaying the rebuild, and further prolonging a spell of mediocrity....being too "good" to draft any legit talent early in the 1st round, and too bad to win anything.

I think you're right about Crawford, i have a bad feeling he's gonna steal us some wins this season that will cost us that top draft pick.

Not hard to take the pulse of this Board. There is a lot of negativity, much of it very negative. Not me - the Hawks are going to be just fine this season. People forget how easily a record improves. The Hawks were 33-39-10 last season. Win just 3 more games the record is at .500 at 36-36-10. Win 5 more and the record is at 38-34-10 which is 86 points. Win 10 more and the record is at 43-29-10 which is 96 points.

Not surprisingly the Hawks lost lots of games at the very end of last season, when the games were totally meaningless, and the team just wanted the season to end. This negatively skews last season’s record.

Also the Hawks lost lots of games last year where they uncustomarily blew leads. Will be corrected this year. Also in many games last year the Hawks dominated play but ended up losing. Will also be corrected this year.

There were two major sources of chaos last year that would have destroyed any team. 1. The Hawks had awful, soul destroying goaltending. No team in the NHL, no matter how talented can overcome awful goaltending. Already saw it this pre-season when Ward was a sieve. Doesn’t matter what else the team does if the goaltending fails. Goaltending will be better this season, whether it be from an improved Ward and improved Forsberg or a returning Crawford or a promoted Delia.

2. Ulf’s Defensive “System” last year was ludicrous. It was not a Defence First System but actually was an Offensive “System” demanding obscene amounts of penetration in the O-Zone. The problem was the penetration was often non-sensical and not supported by game context. The penetration was often totally unsupportable from a defensive standpoint. The result - the Hawks gave up more odd-man breaks in a few games than other teams were giving up over months.

There seemed to be a change later in the season. It does not seem to be a confusing issue to penetrate when it makes sense to do so, given game context and when it is safe to do so from a defensive standpoint. During training camp there has been an acknowledgement that there were problems last season and steps have been taken to address those problems.

What we will see is that our D-Men are actually better than they seemed last year. Same for the goaltenders.

So what does Z3Hawk predict? Hawks will make the play-offs and will do so easily!
- Z3Hawk

You've gotta be kidding me man....make the playoffs easily? We're like the 6th best team in our own division....

Look....you gotta be realistic. Our roster just isn't that good compared to most other teams. Especially on defense, at the center position, and with overall bottom 6 forward depth(all 3 areas are incredibly important if you wanna be a contending team).

I was all for being optimistic and would question the negative vibes just as you are now....but that was back when it actually made sense, when we had an elite roster/a proven winning team with a winning formula for sustained success.

That team no longer exists. All that's left is this incredibly flawed group of misfits(some too old and slow to play the way they once were capable of, others too young and inexperienced to be difference makers).

We're stuck in transition....and the only logical way to go from here is full throttle towards a rebuild or we will only linger in the funk. Time to stop this "If Vegas can do it last year, we can too!", "Anything is possible!!" mentality, and gear up for a realistic outcome and a plan for the future. Its not being "negative", its calling a spade a spade and adapting your approach accordingly.

Motte is looking good for the Canucks against the Flames tonight.

Motte is looking good for the Canucks against the Flames tonight.
- DarthKane

Happy for Motte to make the Canucks out of camp. Kero got sent to Utica, though.

Pettersson scores in his debut for Vancouver. So did Comtois for the Ducks. Kotkaniemi with an assist in his Habs debut. Shaw scored the first Montreal goal.

During the Sharks-Ducks pre-game, they announced the whole San Jose roster since it's their first home game and (as expected) Erik Karlsson gets a huge ovation with fellow Swede and Karlsson (Melker) next in line at #68.

Love the way the Sharks’ young Top forwards Kane, Hertl, Donskoi, and Meier possess skill AND strength. They drive the net consistently and are tough along the boards. Hawks need way more of those types. Maybe Saad finds his hands at some point. but he’s the only guy in that mold on the roster.

Edit: would love to see the Sharks raise the Cup in 2019

Love the way the Sharks’ young Top forwards Kane, Hertl, Donskoi, and Meier possess skill AND strength. They drive the net consistently and are tough along the boards. Hawks need way more of those types. Maybe Saad finds his hands at some point. but he’s the only guy in that mold on the roster.

Edit: would love to see the Sharks raise the Cup in 2019
- EnzoD

Kane seems to have finally found a place to thrive in San Jose. Hertl is really coming into his own the past two seasons and is poised to break out more with linemates who can complement him. Donskoi and Meier are just scratching the surface with Timo having the higher ceiling.

Love the way the Sharks’ young Top forwards Kane, Hertl, Donskoi, and Meier possess skill AND strength. They drive the net consistently and are tough along the boards. Hawks need way more of those types. Maybe Saad finds his hands at some point. but he’s the only guy in that mold on the roster.

Edit: would love to see the Sharks raise the Cup in 2019
- EnzoD

I wanted them to beat Pittsburgh, they had the chance but got out worked

Motte is looking good for the Canucks against the Flames tonight.
- DarthKane

That's good, I hope he finds his game and sticks. I liked him, knew he was young and learning. Just too many mistakes for Q's liking.

[quote=SimpleJack]Long term goal for the organization should be to rebuild, as fast as possible, to return to championship contention as fast as possible.

By rooting/hoping for us to eek out a playoff spot against all odds you're just delaying the rebuild, and further prolonging a spell of mediocrity....being too "good" to win anything.

If Kane is on the team, why are you rebuilding? Not that he is the whole team, but he is the face of scoring in terms of hawks. I feel like the front office is thinking, why rebuild when they have good years, limited and numbered, but still good. Tanking or whatever you want to call it is waste for stars that are still on the team still trying still producing. When these guys are past their expiration when, how, and who replaces them of exactly the same value? You arent guarenteed superstars in the draft. I feel our problem is that we are directly in the middle. We aren't God awful horrendous in 1 area. We might be bad, but not pathetic. For every good top 6, bottom 6, d men, and goalie there's bad to counteract the good. That's not rebuild material but not a Stanley Cup contender either. That's why there is a lack of planning or maybe just hoping. Hoping this team with stars still producing can get the job done again. Why waste good years for nothing? It is safer to keep playing with the hopes of S.C. in mind. That way it isn't wasting years of skilled players and develop the kids. Tanking or whatever teaches nothing. People complain about lack of drive, how does wait until the rebuild is over teaches drive. This is probably different drive, but still. Rebuilds aren't quick either.

Love the way the Sharks’ young Top forwards Kane, Hertl, Donskoi, and Meier possess skill AND strength. They drive the net consistently and are tough along the boards. Hawks need way more of those types. Maybe Saad finds his hands at some point. but he’s the only guy in that mold on the roster.

Edit: would love to see the Sharks raise the Cup in 2019
- EnzoD

How about that Brandon Montour for the Ducks? He's been INCREDIBLE in this game.

Very impressive to be the best D-man on the ice in a game featuring Karlsson, Burns, Vlasic, Lindholm, and Fowler.

How about that Brandon Montour for the Ducks? He's been INCREDIBLE in this game.

Very impressive to be the best D-man on the ice in a game featuring Karlsson, Burns, Vlasic, Lindholm, and Fowler.
- SimpleJack

Karlsson, per usual, did not impress me defensively and his constant joining the rush led to several odd man breaks for the Ducks. I bet this is the first time in Brent Burns life he hasn’t been on the 1st Powerplay unit. I’ll take Doughty, Burns, Hedman and Subban over Karlsson every day of the week.