Colby Armstrong, Alexei Ponikarovsky, Raffi Torres, Ray Whitney?

[Genofan#1]

Samedi, 06 Février 2010
By HOCKEY30.com

After l, Ilya Kovalchuk trade sending New Jersey, ESPN has compiled a list of players that should interest many of the NHL training.

- Raffi Torres is in great demand in the market. The combative player of the Columbus Blue Jackets is an athlete who performs in the important moments. When the Oilers have qualified for the finals of the Stanley Cup in 2006, Torres scored several important goals while being perfect on the defensive. The striker claimed 16 goals, including 3 winners this season.

The Pittsburgh Penguins would make Torres a priority. The Los Angeles Kings and Colorado Avalanche are also in the race.

Alexei Ponikarovsky: The Ukrainian 29-year interest the Penguins and Thrashers. Atltanta would go and look for the match at his former teammate with the Leafs, Nik Antropov.

Ray Whitney: The Penguins are favorites in the race to obtain the veteran.

[BGK]

Interestingly enough, [HIGH-LIGHT]stats can be used to justify anyone's point of view.[/HIGH-LIGHT] If it gives you pleasure to use a group stat for individual acclaim, by all means have at it.

Sorry for using a stat that the NHL places emphasis on to back up my point...It would probably be more reasonable to use the opinion of a guy who thinks Jordan Staal is this generations Ron Francis.

Gonchar is a defenseman on a team that for the most part is pretty responsible defensively. His teammates aren't the reason he has a poor +/_

[ihateusernames]

Sorry for using a stat that the NHL places emphasis on to back up my point...It would probably be more reasonable to use the opinion of a guy who thinks Jordan Staal is this generations Ron Francis.

Gonchar is a defenseman on a team that for the most part is pretty responsible defensively. His teammates aren't the reason he has a poor +/_

The team hasn't been defensively responsible for a while now. Shots against are up, as are goals against.

All players on the ice receive a + or - when a goal is scored under certain circumstances, whether or not they are individually responsible for it. So, if the NHL places emphasis on it to back up your point, it must be heeded regardless of how it is awarded solely because it backs up your point, or non-point, as the case may be.

For the record, I never claimed Gonchar was the team's best defensive defenseman. I only claim he is better than most people give him credit for, and has gotten better defensively since joining the organization.

Feel free to believe Goligoski is defensively better Gonchar, just don't use a bogus stat in an attempt to bolster your opinion.

[Erzo77]

The team hasn't been defensively responsible for a while now. Shots against are up, as are goals against.

All players on the ice receive a + or - when a goal is scored under certain circumstances, whether or not they are individually responsible for it. So, if the NHL places emphasis on it to back up your point, it must be heeded regardless of how it is awarded solely because it backs up your point, or non-point, as the case may be.

For the record, I never claimed Gonchar was the team's best defensive defenseman. I only claim he is better than most people give him credit for, and has gotten better defensively since joining the organization.

Feel free to believe Goligoski is defensively better Gonchar, just don't use a bogus stat in an attempt to bolster your opinion.

Not a chance.

[BGK]

The team hasn't been defensively responsible for a while now. Shots against are up, as are goals against.

All players on the ice receive a + or - when a goal is scored under certain circumstances, whether or not they are individually responsible for it. So, if the NHL places emphasis on it to back up your point, it must be heeded regardless of how it is awarded solely because it backs up your point, or non-point, as the case may be.

For the record, I never claimed Gonchar was the team's best defensive defenseman. I only claim he is better than most people give him credit for, and has gotten better defensively since joining the organization.

Feel free to believe Goligoski is defensively better Gonchar, just don't use a bogus stat in an attempt to bolster your opinion.

Please don't try to define +/- to me...I know exactly how it works. And once again, I apologize for using actual facts instead of imagined opinions to defend my position. I know you have to take +/- with a grain of salt, but at some point it is relevant. And this is one of those times. Gonchar is a defenseman. +/- is more relative to defenseman than it is to say a winger who isn't supposed to come back deep into the zone.

Not saying Gogo is better than Gonch, just pointing out that Gonch isn't as great as people believe...yet Gogo gets all the criticism while Gonch skates away free and clear.

I realize stats mean nothing to you...much like in the staal vs Ron Francis debate where you conveniently left out assists because they didnt support your theory, but at some point you gotta realize stats mean something. Gonchar made a horrible pass in the game today that led directly to a washington goal by Fehr, but everyone in the GDT just conveniently overlooked that fact and threw their anger at McKee and MAF even though I pointed out the horrible pass. Gonch got a minus for that play, as did McKee (and yes, everyone else on the ice), but it was Gonch's pass that led to that break out and eventual goal.

[BGK]

Not a chance.

No one said that, but thanks for chiming in and stirring the pot.

[ihateusernames]

I realize stats mean nothing to you...much like in the staal vs Ron Francis debate where you conveniently left out assists because they didnt support your theory, but at some point you gotta realize stats mean something. Gonchar made a horrible pass in the game today that led directly to a washington goal by Fehr, but everyone in the GDT just conveniently overlooked that fact and threw their anger at McKee and MAF even though I pointed out the horrible pass. Gonch got a minus for that play, as did McKee (and yes, everyone else on the ice), but it was Gonch's pass that led to that break out and eventual goal.

On the contrary, stats mean something when one compares apples to apples. Funny how statistical analysis works that way.

Yes, it was a bad pass. McKee's error was worse, further compounded by Fleury. That was a well deserved minus by all involved.

However, it doesn't alter the fact that +/- is more of a unit stat than an individual stat, which is precisely what happened on Fehr's goal. That goal was the turning point in the game.

[BGK]

On the contrary, stats mean something when one compares apples to apples. Funny how statistical analysis works that way.

Yes, it was a bad pass. McKee's error was worse, further compounded by Fleury. That was a well deserved minus by all involved.

However, it doesn't alter the fact that +/- is more of a unit stat than an individual stat, which is precisely what happened on Fehr's goal. That goal was the turning point in the game.

You just don't get it... I'm done trying to explain stuff to you, enjoy your beliefs.

[ihateusernames]

You're right, it's simply astounding that I don't get your misuse of stats.

Crosby tallies a -1 for his stellar play yesterday. At some point, certain stats mean something. Crosby obviously sucks.

[Kipper]

Ovechkin is a +37 because he is always pushing the offense...other teams are always backing up and trying to defend rather than attack. that is why he is a +37. The best defense is a good offense.

The +/- system is a lot more accurate than people who don't find it useful to defend their point want to believe.

I can't agree with this. I mean, I agree that most of the people here couldn't tell you what responsibility it is for a Dman and forward in their own zone...but +/- is a garbage stat.

An entire line can get punished in +/- because a goalie allows a shortie, or 1 player misses an assisngment or throws a bad pass/giveaway etc... There's far too many variables that can go into allowing a goal and getting a goal. I mean you could argue it the other way as well... there's a lot of goals scored where there's a couple of players on the ice that do absolutely nothing, yet they are rewarded for that. The +/- stat itself tells one very little.

To be honest, you could go through just about every stat and pick them apart in general because they usually don't tell most of the story. That's why players and coaches in general tend to blow off certain stats in team oriented sports.

Taking Ovechkin's +37 for instance. You CANNOT use +/- to determine what sort of defensive player Ovechkin is BUT that's what a lot fo people try to use +/- for and you can't. Anyone except for Ovechkin and Crapitals fanboys will tell you that Ovechkin is perhaps one of the ****tiest defensive forwards in the league. Bruce Bodreau even admitted it so far as to force Ovechkin last season to work more on his game in his own end . In Ovechkin's case, +/- shows how ridiculous that line is in scoring when it is on the ice but... you cannot use +/- to determine that every time. You can look at Staal's +14 or whatever it is and that stat is defensively driven, more than offensive and then you have to consider that Staal's line isn't always paired against top lines either..

A ton of variables. I've personally never liked the +/- stat. To me it's an "empty" stat.

[BGK]

Kipper, i agree, with most of what you said, like I said, +/- has to be taken with a grain of salt, but at some point it becomes telling. When one of your best offensive defensemen has a low +/-, that tells something about his defense. Yeah, not all of his minus's are his fault, just like not all of his plus's are because of him... law of averages...but to be one of your best players offensively, and to "supposedly" be our best defensive defenseman, that stat should not be as low as it is. let alone lower than all our other defensemen who don't have his tangibles.

I just brought that stat up to show that he was the worst of all our defensemen in that category, certain other people turned it into more than what it was supposed to be. I'm not using that stat as the sole justification for my opinion that Gonchar is not our best defensive defenseman, I just used it as a quick and easy way to show my point and got trapped in the neverending black hole of having to try to explain absolutely every single thought that goes into a quick message board post.

[Kipper]

Kipper, i agree, with most of what you said, like I said, +/- has to be taken with a grain of salt, but at some point it becomes telling. When one of your best offensive defensemen has a low +/-, that tells something about his defense. Yeah, not all of his minus's are his fault, just like not all of his plus's are because of him... law of averages...but to be one of your best players offensively, and to "supposedly" be our best defensive defenseman, that stat should not be as low as it is. let alone lower than all our other defensemen who don't have his tangibles.

I just brought that stat up to show that he was the worst of all our defensemen in that category, certain other people turned it into more than what it was supposed to be. I'm not using that stat as the sole justification for my opinion that Gonchar is not our best defensive defenseman, I just used it as a quick and easy way to show my point and got trapped in the neverending black hole of having to try to explain absolutely every single thought that goes into a quick message board post.

To be honest, I wouldn't even look at +/- if I were evaluating our Defenemen either cause there's a LOT of goals that are given up because a forward blew his coverage in his own zone but the lack of knowledge amongst fans will instantly blame the defenseman... It's what I don't like about the +/- ... when it comes to Hockey you really need to know some positions in schemes and systems and even then, you have to go back and re-watch stuff if you can get a view of the entire ice because the game mvoes so fast.

That said... Gonchar hasn't been very good defensively this season. He's looked more like he has for most of his career and the 05-06 season where he was almost boo'd out of town. His body positioning this year has been really awful and he's been caught out of position as much as anyone.

Problem is that we lack anyone on defense that is really strong defensively. It's not beyond reason to say that despite his poor defensive play this season that Gonchar has been one of the ebst defensive players on this team. To me, that's a problem because at his best,. gonchar is average. anyone that syays otherwise has NO ****ing idea what they are watching. Gonchar for msost of his career was a liability in his own end and obnly started becoming average the past few seasons... With Scuderi gone, our lack of defensive minded defensemen is really lacking.

Eaton had a chance to be it, but is far from it. He really needs to get off this team because he';s not really good offensively or defensively and is just taking up a spot in which we could get someone better in there,.

Orpik is and never was good defensively. Dumb people see that he's physical and equate "physical" to being "good defensively". Problem with Orpik has always been poor timing of his hits, poor positioning and poor lateral skating abilities which was a knock on him out of college. Fast and slick skater in a straight line but has issues moving side to side. Doesn't take much to get around Orpik if he can';t keep them on the boards.

Goligoski has been one of the better defensive minded players on this team this year and he's been pretty "blah" like the rest of the team defense in recent months.

I don't know. IHUN is absolutely right that this team defensively has been in a major decline from months now. SOG against has gone from being in the 26's and 2nd in the league to the 29's and slipping in and out of the Top 10. For that kind of average to change that means that we're giving up per game more than 30 shots which is Therrien type levels. We are giving up more goals BIG time and that's related to SOG against... BUT...

This isn't all defensively either. The offense isn't sustaining enough pressure in the offensive zone, they aren't backchecking well or hard enough, our neutral zone play has been ridiculously weak which is one of the keys for this team on both sides of the ice. Neutral zone play creates turnovers and we control possession. Bylsma's system is possession based. If we are playing in our own end too often we are ****ed cause this is really a weaker defensive system that is based on a quick transition game... Think Detroit and San Jose's defensive schemes. Soff, but quick puck moving and effective.... I think that the defensive issues are stemming more from the Offensive side

[Crosby Clan]

I can't agree with this. I mean, I agree that most of the people here couldn't tell you what responsibility it is for a Dman and forward in their own zone...but +/- is a garbage stat.

An entire line can get punished in +/- because a goalie allows a shortie, or 1 player misses an assisngment or throws a bad pass/giveaway etc... There's far too many variables that can go into allowing a goal and getting a goal. I mean you could argue it the other way as well... there's a lot of goals scored where there's a couple of players on the ice that do absolutely nothing, yet they are rewarded for that. The +/- stat itself tells one very little.

To be honest, you could go through just about every stat and pick them apart in general because they usually don't tell most of the story. That's why players and coaches in general tend to blow off certain stats in team oriented sports.

Taking Ovechkin's +37 for instance. You CANNOT use +/- to determine what sort of defensive player Ovechkin is BUT that's what a lot fo people try to use +/- for and you can't. Anyone except for Ovechkin and Crapitals fanboys will tell you that Ovechkin is perhaps one of the ****tiest defensive forwards in the league. Bruce Bodreau even admitted it so far as to force Ovechkin last season to work more on his game in his own end . In Ovechkin's case, +/- shows how ridiculous that line is in scoring when it is on the ice but... you cannot use +/- to determine that every time. You can look at Staal's +14 or whatever it is and that stat is defensively driven, more than offensive and then you have to consider that Staal's line isn't always paired against top lines either..

[HIGH-LIGHT]A ton of variables. I've personally never liked the +/- stat. To me it's an "empty" stat. [/HIGH-LIGHT]

I wouldn't go quite that far. It can be useful, just like all the others. I'd certainly take a +40 guy over a -40 guy any day.

But seriously, if you take a guy like Ovenchicken, who leads the league in +40, or whatever, you'd assume he's strong defensively, which he isn't. But the whole ****ing team practically has + figures, because they score like madmen. And no one ever accused them to be a defensive team, surely.

But at the end of the day, if you're +40, you're doing something right, any way you shake it. A + or - figure, certainly for one night's work, can be very deceiving, because of a teammate's actions. But over the long term, things even out. And sure, there are other factors that go into a stat like that, but it does tell a tale, especially when combined with other stat categories.

[Genofan#1]

Monday 08 février 2010
RDS.ca
Cam Barker (AP)

The Chicago Blackhawks may be interested in acquiring defenseman James Wisniewski Ducks of Anaheim, according to the Daily Herald.

In return, the Ducks could well acquire the young 23 year old defenseman Cam Barker. This will earn 3.1 million this season and next year while also Wisniewski gets 2.75 million this year, but can become a free agent after this season.

Disappointed development of Cam Barker, a time considered the "next Denis Potvin" by former general manager Dale Tallon, the Hawks would be willing to risk losing Wisniewski end of the season if they would get rid of Barker's salary this year.

The San Jose Sharks are also in the race to secure the services of Wisniewski.

Moreover, as the Hawks try to put his hand on George Parros of the Ducks.

Yahoo! Sports

Stir the Hawks Nest! Why not?


The Blackhawks would seek to strengthen its defense with the addition of a good veteran.

One of the names that appear out of the lot is now the defender of the Tampa Bay Andrej Meszaros.

In exchange, Chicago would give the forwards Kris Versteeg and Patrick Sharp or Cam Barker, who is the focus of many rumors in this day and age.

Chicago Sun Times on Fannation

Tim Thomas on his departure

The Chicago Blackhawks, who else would be in the race to acquire guardian 35 years.

The Hawks desperately hoping to get rid of some large contracts, including the goalie Cristobal Huet.

Boston would be willing to let Thomas now they are assured that the future of the team in goal through the Finn Tuukka Rask.

The Bruins, however, did not intend to give Thomas. They would seek an attacker and a defender of the first order and a good goaltender.

In addition to the Hawks, Stars, Blues and Blue Jackets might be interested.

ESPN

The days are numbered Kari Lehtonen

Now he is back in the NHL, Kari Lehtonen could soon change teams.

Suffered many injuries that have helped to win Ondrej Pavelec for the Thrashers, Lehtonen could soon be forced to don the uniform of another team. The St. Louis Blues and Dallas Stars are interested in his services.

If they can get their hands on Lehtonen, the Blues and Stars might be interested in the services of Cory Schneider (Vancouver) or Jaroslav Halak.

ESPN

The Red Wings lack money

With the imminent return to play defenseman Andreas Lilja, the Wings will need to remove one million dollars in salary from their current alignment.

It is therefore possible that a player of a certain importance leaves the Wings shortly.

ESPN

The Jackets are popular

In the midst of a difficult season, the Columbus Blue Jackets received several offers to exchange for their attackers.

Rumors circulated that wanted the Pittsburgh Penguins were interested in the services of RJ Umberger and they offered in return Kristopher Letang, but Columbus is interested in any way dispose of Umberger.

The names Raffi Torres and Fredrik Modin move much, but it would be surprising if a transaction occurs before the end of the Olympics.

ESPN

The Panthers want to clean

In order to acquire a power forward, a solid defender and good plumber, the Panthers are "willing to pay a reasonable price, but not to meet the demands of some ridiculous".

Depending on the outcome of upcoming games, the team based in Sunrise could dispose of defenders Jordan Leopold and Dennis Seidenberg.

One thing is certain, Prince Rostislav Olesz and Kamil Kreps change of address since the Panthers have no intention of keeping them in alignment.

ESPN

[Genofan#1]

Update* Penguins leaning towards acquiring Ethan Moreau...
about 1 hour ago from web
NHLSourcesSay