Things People Involved in the NHL are Thankful For

Happy Thanksgiving to my loyal American DGS readers. Speaking of it being Thanksgiving, it's the time of the year to be thankful, for something like hockey and the Flyers being in first place. Because of this, we sent out some texts to some NHL players to ask them what they're thankful for. The responses we got were rather enlightening.


Kyle Wellwood: "Butter, stuffing, French fries and trans-fats."

PK Subban: "Mike Richards didn't kill me, that's the nicest thing someone's done for me since my car got burned during a riot last spring"

Sheldon Souray: "I get to play in Hershey instead of Edmonton; mission accomplished"

Sidney Crosby: "No matter how much I dive, Bettman still loves me"

Patrick Kane: "Thbt Suttere kidd who pnchrd cabbie driverz"
(I wasn't sure what he was ok so I texted him back to ask 'Dude are you ok?')
Kane's response: "Yes, jus haad somme tequila"

Dammit Kane, stay sober for like...a day..seriously

Dan Ellis: "My money"

David Booth: "Mike Richards didn't kill me, I owe him one."

Peter Chiarelli: "Making the playoffs and getting a lottery pick 2 years in a row"

Colin Campbell: (Editor's Note: Colie didn't respond, apparently he doesn't know to use a Blackberry)

Brian Burke: "No one pretends to be me on Twitter anymore."

Glen Sather: "The Rangers ownership, for keeping me employed"

Derek Boogaard: "My goal scoring abilities"

Ilya Kovachuk: "Being able to play in NHL for 9 more years even tho Bett-man think I play 15 more"

Crazy Lou: "Jelly"

Joe Thornton: "The Heimlich maneuver, saving my life every year after I seem to choke every May"

Antti Niemi: "Leighton not closing 5 hole, made me cup winning goalie"

Sean Avery: "The ability to give others my sloppy seconds"

Henrik Sedin: "Daniel Sedin"

Daniel Sedin: "Henrik Sedin"

Coach Sutter: "Having a brother as GM so i dont get fired"

Brad Richards: "Knowing that I have at most, 7 months and 6 days in Dallas"

Andrew Raycroft: "A job in the AHL for the Texas Stars that keeps me from playing in Russia"
My response: "Uh Andrew, you play for the NHL's Dallas Stars"
Andrew Raycroft: "LOL there is NO way this is an 'NHL' team, it's defence is like ECHL quality"

Brian Gionta: "No one's burned my house down even tho I'm an American who's captain of the Habs"

Scott Gomez: "the lack of a height requirement to play in the NHL"

Jason Spezza: "Not having been destroyed by Patrick Sharp since 2004"

Gary Bettman: "Being a league that's so unnoticed, no one did anything about Colin Campbell...those MLB guys always dragged in front of Congress; that sucks for them"

The Last 4 Unbeaten Teams and Their Dirty Little Secrets

So we have 4 unbeaten teams in the NHL, all of them are rather surprising, and this got me thinking, why is that these teams have stayed unbeaten for so long. Needless to say, I sent the DGS-SuperSpies to find out, and what they learned was rather enlightening.

• Team: -Dallas Stars-
  Reasons for Winning: Players no longer feel any pressure to perform because Mike Modano is no longer around to tell the stars stories of picking up a giant trophy in June after winning a 16 team tournament. Because of this lack of pressure, the Stars have concentrated on having fun on the ice and have accidentally won a few games.
  Reasons to Lose: Because Andrew Raycroft will be forced to play a game at some point this season.
  
• Team: -Nashville Predators-
  Reasons for Winning: Opposing forwards tend to be scared of the giant goaltenders in net for the Predators. On the other end of the ice, no one tries to block shots off the stick of Shea Weber out of fear that they will become the next Sami Salo.
  Reasons to Lose: They are the Nashville Predators.
  
• Team: -Toronto Maple Leafs-
  Reasons for Winning: Because the Leafs no longer employ Vesa Toskala. Also, the Leafs finally caught onto the idea that maybe pissing off Brian Burke is a bad idea.
  Reasons to Lose: If Colton Orr can lose a fight, then the Leafs can lose a game.
  
• Team: -Tampa Bay Lightning-
  Reasons for Winning: Employ a team of winners known as the 2008 Philadelphia Flyers.
  Reasons to Lose: In a second lapse of judgement, Steve Yzerman will trade Dan Ellis's problems to the Montreal Canadiens for Carey Price's cigarettes. This will cause Ellis to take up smoking before games leading to him to run out of money as well as talent. (PS: Dan Ellis's Problems will cause Habs fans to riot.)

The Flyers Goaltending for 2010-2011, or the reason I started pulling my hair out and going grey at age 21

I think the title is self-explanatory. Honestly, this post isn't going to be about what should have been or what I wished had happened (Nabokov starting, Leighton backup, Boucher in AHL, keep Gagne and no Mesz)

But, alas, I am not going to complain about things I have no control over, rather, I am going to look at the cards dealt to the Flyers, and attempt to discuss what will happen with these guys next year. Hopefully the 2010-2011 campaign is not DiPietro-esque. Here we go...

(All stats/info from here)

Name: Johan Backlund
Jersey: #30
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 198lbs
Catches: Left

Forecast: Insert first callup title here when Boucher sucks again, also, he should be the 2011-2012 backup

Name: Sergei Bobrovsky
Jersey: #35
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 190lbs

Forecast: The Bob plays up the AHL, and realizes that, in Soviet Russia hockey money comes tax free!!!! This leads to him bolting back to the KHL's version of the Edmonton Oilers and never being heard from again.



Name: Brian Boucher
Jersey: #33
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 200lbs

Forecast: Brian goes to the Phantoms, then is promptly traded to Chicago when Niemi wins a $4 millon arbitration case prompting the 'Hawks need to have a goalie who's cap friendly. Boucher then goes out and makes Vesa Toskala look like a reincarnated Georges Vezina


Name:Joacim Eriksson
Jersey: N/A
Height:6' 1"
Weight: 189 lbs

Forecast: Eriksson makes the jump like Backlund, eventually gets a call up because Leighton's late to the puck and Backlund's pulling pucks out of the back of the net too often. Flyers fans promptly cry for Marty Turco to save us.



Name: Jakub Kovar
Jersey: N/A
Height: 6' 0"
Weight 176 lbs

Forecast: His continued inability to win a starting job in the KHL causes him to replace Andrew Raycroft as biggest bust in the goaltending market. By using words like "hype" and "improved version of Toskala" the Flyers are able to send Kovar, Shelley and Meszaros to the Calgary Flames for Miika Kipprusoff at the trade deadline.



Name: Michael Leighton
Jersey: #49
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 186

Forecast: Holds down the starter's role until relief in the form of a real NHL starter shows up, becomes solid backup. Cries when Flyers hoist 2011 Stanley Cup. Becomes responsible for big IN YOUR F-ING FACE MOMENT when he calmly stops a Gagne wrist shot, Vinny rebound and Stamkos wrap-around during game 7 of the EC finals against the Bolts, hilarity ensues with Andrej Meszaros then fires a 197 foot foot clear that Toskala's Dan Ellis at the other end, Flyers go onto the Finals.

Name: Adam Morrison
Jersey: #73
Height: 6' 3"
Weight: 166 lbs

Forecast: Plays well enough to stay in the AHL because he doesn't ever want to end up back in Edmonton for the rest of his life.


Name:Brad Phillips
Jersey: #75
Height: 6' 2"
Weight: 163


Forecast: He's gonna be the 2010-11 version of Jeremy Duchesne, thrust into a spotlight for no real reason other than to entertain me...

Nic Riopel
Jersey: #35 (yes 2 35s on the Flyers so far...but he should switch to his #29 in camp)
Height: 6' 0"
Weight: 172

Forecast: Will be the #3 guy in the AHL behind Backlund and Bobrovsky, could be traded for other prospects, like depth Defenseman that do NOT cost $4 million....


Name:Brian Stewart
Jersey: #67
Height:6' 4"
Weight: 195

Forecast: Will probably not get a look out of training camp, for this guy to see NHL time, the other goalies would need to have no limbs, heads or heartbeats.












I've reread this post now quite a few times, and I find myself very, uncomfortable with the Flyers 2010-11 goalie situation. And we don't have ToskaLOL or Raycroft

Things Ryan Parent Could Have Been Traded For

Ok DGS back today, with a post from the Real DGS, rather than Amy, who was filling in for me while I was under the weather.

It seems that the Nashville Predators overpaid a bit for Ryan Parent. I mean, talent-wise Dan Hamhuis is far and away above what Parent is, Hamhuis could be a future top d-man on a team, Parent, if he stays healthy and plays to the top of his potential, could be a #3/#4 D-man who sees PK duty.

Parent's kinda useless, sure he's an decent PK guy, but his even strength numbers are kinda scary bad. Also, he handles the puck with the same skill, poise and dexterity as Sean Avery handles words and maturity.

Parent also is shaping up to rival Rick DiPietro for the most injury plagued career. For any NY Yankees fans out there, think about the $39,950,000 mistake called Carl Pavano.

But enough with that, should the Predators attempt to move Ryan Parent, I have a list of things that would be fair compensation.

• A bag of pucks
• Any NJ Devils backup goaltender (only thing in hockey that sees less ice time than Parent)
  
• Vesa Toskala
• Anyone half as good as Alex Daigle
• A spare water bottle
• Anyone JFJ thinks is good
• Joe Thornton Playoff Edition
• Michael Leighton, Road Stanley Cup Finals Edition
• Lee Stempniak: Maple Leafs Edition
• Andrew Raycroft