SB Nation User Blog: zephyr

Goaltending styles always change a bit, and you’ll see, with the new rules, you’ll see that a lot of...

zephyr — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:37:33 -0000

Goaltending styles always change a bit, and you’ll see, with the new rules, you’ll see that a lot of guys don’t even close their gloves anymore. Henrik Lundqvist, our guy—this just happened in the last year—we had one glove that we beefed up quite a bit in the palm because he was going to use it for practice, every day he was getting 200 shots against him, and he doesn’t want to get hurt in practice, but he realized that once he made the glove stiffer, it was bigger, and he taught himself how to catch it like a lacrosse stick, kind of cradling the puck in, and it seems like more and more guys are doing that now.

KuklasKorner : Hockey

Should Bettman resign?

zephyr — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:32:07 -0000

Jim Boone just wrote an open letter to Gary Bettman asking for him to resign by Jan 1st.

What are your thoughts on Bettman? Is he doing a decent job? Should he resign? If he did resign who could step into the role and what would they need to change to perform better?

I don't think Bettman is amazing but I think he has sort of become every fans favorite scapegoat for anything that is wrong in the NHL.

I think this also gives a guy like Tomas Fleischmann a chance to show everyone how good he can be....

zephyr — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:13:26 -0000

I think this also gives a guy like Tomas Fleischmann a chance to show everyone how good he can be. He is bigger and stronger than he was last year. I am a big Fleischmann fan, and I know how good he can be. He is the player nobody knows about on our team, but he is a really good glue guy. He is responsible and is a top-six forward who can play both offensively and defensively and those guys are really hard to find.

Bruce's Behind the Bench

Is it too late to use "The Pretender" as the opening video?

zephyr — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 08:04:13 -0000

Is it too late to use "The Pretender" as the opening video?

I especially like the part near the end where the TV is saying I WATCH RED - I WEAR RED - I FEEL RED.

Good premise but probably doesn't catch the magic of the original. =]

Michael Neuvirth was reassigned to Hershey today. Boudreau said the goalie has declared himself...

zephyr — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 22:08:33 -0000

Michael Neuvirth was reassigned to Hershey today. Boudreau said the goalie has declared himself healthy and "ready to go". He also told Boudreau: "I'll be back."

Capitals Insider'

Japers' Rink EASHL 10 Team

zephyr — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 21:29:06 -0000

I know there are a lot of EA NHL players on the rink and I thought it would be fun if we tried to put together at least 1 EASHL team on Xbox Live! If there is a lot of interest we could assemble A\B teams.

This year there will be a monthly trophy awarded and the top team gets some cool swag and a trip out to EA Canada like last year. I'm not this hardcore but it's nice to know what's attainable.

Please post here and let me know if you're interested. If there is anyone with team management experience I'd be happy for you to take over the reigns on this as I'm better at just playing then being some sort of guild leader.

PS3 users feel free to use this area to post as well. I will only be playing on the 360 though.

Evgeni Malkin in an interview said that he was going to seriously improve his English because, in...

zephyr — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 16:16:28 -0000

Evgeni Malkin in an interview said that he was going to seriously improve his English because, in his view, his communication with the journalists was not enough to get him the Hart Trophy. How would you look at it?
If someone believes that Hart Trophy is given only for communicating with the journalists, they can even start learning Chinese if they think it would help.

Alex Ovechkin, via Alexovetjkin Sportsbox.ru interview (follow the link for the rest)

Omsk GM: We Keep Intensive Talks With Nylander

zephyr — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 14:26:43 -0000

Omsk GM: We Keep Intensive Talks With Nylander

We keep intensive talks with Nylander. The problem is that he has a contract with Washington, but I believe that we'll still manage to get him here. He played with Jagr in Rangers and they did a great job together. Jaromir told me he was his best partner ever.

Championat.ru via Caps Message Board.

Teds Take - Red Matter

zephyr — Mon, 18 May 2009 17:07:19 -0000

Teds Take - Red Matter

A pretty good article from Ted with a collection of great fan emails that boils down to:
So — basically — if we follow the logic of the collective wisdom of the crowds via these emails over the last 5 days — I would sell the team — but before I do — I would fire George and Bruce — and get rid of every player but Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom.

More on Green's Lucky Stick As you read last night, Mike Green's record-breaking stick, the one...

zephyr — Tue, 12 May 2009 18:30:00 -0000

More on Green's Lucky Stick
As you read last night, Mike Green's record-breaking stick, the one that was earmarked for the Hockey Hall of Fame, made it to Pittsburgh in time for the opening faceoff. But Green didn't use the Stealth because he said he had already decided to go with S17.

"I couldn't use it" in Game 6, Green said. "I just got used to the other one. To go back right before the game ..."

Apparently, the hall-of-fame stick wasn't the last Mike Green edition Stealth in the world, as I claimed yesterday. Green said at least a half dozen are supposed to arrive sometime today or tomorrow -- from fans and friends of friends.

"Somebody wrote something yesterday," Green said, referring to my blog post yesterday. "So [Stealths] are coming in like no tomorrow. They're coming out of everywhere. Fans and one of the reporters even had one.

"I'll use [a Stealth] in the morning and see how it feels," he added.

Capitals Insider - Laich: Discipline for Caps 'An Achilles' Heel'