Metal Reviews

You and I should talk.

Edit: Okay you're basically stacked at the back end. Awesome D and both Martys.

Now I just need to figure out how to play this damn game. I have no clue what to do beyond the draft

just set your roster everyday and hope for the best.

also, pay attention to who's on waivers and what they are doing.

And accept every trade request I make.

I have no idea what either of those things mean, but I'll be sure to do it :)

Gonna need to read the help section a bit.. When does week two start?

Week 2 starts Oct 18th, so you basically have a whole week to make any changes if you want.

Basically, every night you are able to start two Cs, two LWs, two RWs, four D, two Gs, and one Utility (any position except G). The rest of your team will be benched meaning their stats WON'T be counted. So you have to decide who you want to start and who you want to be benched (BN).

Players on waivers or free agents are those who don't belong to any team and can be picked up. But in order to pick up someone you have to drop an existing player from your roster.

Hope that helps.

Thank you, that helps a lot.

I think my team is pretty good.

I defintely should be winning on PIMs most nights.

I have two D-men that dont even play in the NHL.. That seems bad to me, is that bad? I already dropped Souray for John-Micheal Liles but I dont know if it worked, I think it did and I just have to wait till Monday or Tuesday.. And then Mathieu Carle is an AHLer for the canadians and he wont be gettin a call up anytime soon that I know of.

I got a bunch of great D men. I even have Paul Martin on the bench. Could use a forward so feel free to make me an offer :)

Right now all free agents are on waivers until the 12th since we just completed the draft. So if you try to pick up someone now you'll have to wait and see if anyone else with a higher waiver position tries to get the same player(s).

But after that all available players become regular FAs and you'll get them immediately.

So I just got home from the NHL premiere in Finland where my Hurricanes opened their season against the Minnesota Wild. As you may have noticed, we won both games, the first one a rather deserved victory, the second one more marginal and with more luck. Some thoughts on both games for those who care:

Hurricanes - Wild 4-3

Both teams started of pretty carefully to be honest. Touching and feeling each other after a long off-season. I was incredibly eager to see the Canes in action with so much change since last season, and three NHL rookies as well as a couple of other pretty inexperienced younger ones. Of course, the buzz before the game surrounded our three Finns, and especially Jokinen who had a somewhat offensive break-out last year with his team-high 30 goals. There were also much talk surrounding the matter of Brandon Sutter, his newly aquired A, and the fact that he as well had a break-out season last year.

Both showed up, and Sutter recorded two goals, while Jokinen recorded a goal and an assist. It feels incredibly nice to have a couple of guys sticking up when Eric Staal doesn't have the day. I think Sutter will continue to produce on the second line, and together him and big E will compile a pretty powerful one-two-punch. With Jokinen as well on the second line, things can turn out pretty nicely this year.

Anyway, back to the game, the second period was all ours, and we kept the pressure high, getting the goals that were lacking in the pre-season, and playing better defensively than against SKA St. Petersburg at least. Ward was sort of off, but did enough to get us the win despite som weaker goals.

Like everyone else, I was especially watching Skinner this evening, and while he didn't seem to have adapted quite like I expected he did cause some trouble for the Wild's defense, and looked more physiucal than I thought he would be, apparently though, he saved his sweet plays for the day after. Another one to watch is Zac Dalpe who for some reason gets fourth-line minutes despite being a rookie and being maybe our most aggressive center at the moment. When he's out there, he's ALWAYS banging bodies, and hustling like a mad-man and I really like what I see of him. It seems that he has brought the good vibrations from camp into the NHL.

Except the PK, there's one matter that concerns me a bit, which is depth at defense. To be honest, the only three worthwhile defenders we have is Pitkanen, Gleason and McBain. Babchuk, despite his offensive abilites, is extremely immature. Harrison, despite his physichality and grit, just isn't skilled enough. Joe Corvo, despite his offense and routine, is a fucking jojo, and you can never know what to expect of him. If there's something killing us this year, it's depth at defense.

Oh and get fucking O'Sullivan on the first line with Staal, and cut LaRose down on the third or fourth. That kid is fucking fast.

Hurricanes - Wild 2-1 SO

Ah, this game had a lot more speed, grit, roughness and jump than the day before. Both offenses were really good and made completely hell in their respective offensive zones. For Carolina, Jeff Skinner tore the Minnesota blueline apart with his great skill, and sense of play. He outrun Backstrom to the puck which eventually led to Ruutu's tying goal, and got the GWG in the shoot-outs with a fucking stunner of a move to outsmart Backstrom. Along with Sutter, Ruutu, Kostopolous and of course he was definitely one of the Canes' best men in this game, and it felt very reassuring to see him outhustle two huge Minnesota D-men for the puck at one time in the game.

Cam Ward did really win this game for us though, and showed up HUGE on several occasions including the last minute of overtime, as well as shutting out the Minnesota attempt in the SO.

Other than that, not much more to say than in my previous paragraphs except that Staal has much too weak wingers in Cole and LaRose. Get O'Sullivan and Bowman/Ruutu up there for some speed, grit and good passes, and he won't skate around al frustrated and taking idiotic penalties all the time.

THE TRIP

The trip in general was pretty awesome. Helsinki is a nice town, but I wish I could actually get to meet some of the players. However, since I bought the tickets individually, and not through the Hurricanes organization, I didn't get to attend practise and stuff like that. I did however fist-bump Brandon Sutter among others. See how that turned out. Will maybe post some pics later.

FUCKING HOCKEY!

Yeah, Stamkos and Doughty are going to have incredible years.

I'm going to need my defense to stay healthy and score all year. Great job on my part to ignore Streit's status.

And why is there always a run on goalies in these drafts?

I wouldn't mind getting meself some better LWers/RWers, though I'm very happy with my centers and D. Goaltending... Well, I probably would never have chosen Chris Mason, and Varlamov could be good or bad, we'll see.

when Varlamov actually gets healthy, stays healthy, and plays.

FTR, I thought Brahm and Metastable had excellent drafts, with DW also doing well. I'm going to need some luck.

I honestly didn't do that much in terms of pre-ranking but I did set it to exclude quite a few players (mostly guys who were too risky or injured).

Your friend Nick offered Andrei Kostitsyn or Chris Kunitz for Duncan Keith. Sorry but I might have to charge him with attempted robbery ;)