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[talloola]

eddie lack has gone to Carolina for the 66th pick this year and 7thround next year, obviously less

than they wanted, but many goalies floating around, and they want markstrom to come onto the team

as the backup cause he played so well in the ahl, especially all through the playoffs, and they

almost won the calder cup, so that put lack in the position of odd man out, as they can't get rid

of miller, too much money, no team would pay him that money now, so he is here to stay till he drops

or just plays out the last two years, with markstrom as his backup, wo we'll have to live with that.

lack won't be number one either, he will back up cam ward in Carolina till 'he' drops or retires.

fans won't be happy with benning for this move, but I do see his position and
understand why he did it, so its done now, just have to move forward.

 

[JLM]

eddie lack has gone to Carolina for the 66th pick this year and 7thround next year, obviously less

than they wanted,

Sayonara Eddie, I'll miss you and wish you well!

 

[talloola]

buffalo sabres have put 'cody hodgson' on waivers, with intention of buying him out.

so much for the hodgson era, I never was a fan of his, never ever liked his 'lack' of skating ability.
and he and his family wanted everything 'now', so canucks traded him, bye bye Charlie

kassian has shown us what he can do, but not on a consistent basis, he is twice the skater of hodgson,
bigger, and a better attitude,
and hopefully with his back healed, he will have a 'healthy' season and play to his potential.

also, they couldn't come to any agreement for a trade for bieksa, maybe sometime
over the next few weeks they will get it done, or sooner, they need that 4 mill.
off the books so they can use it for other deals.

 

[talloola]

kevin bieksa is now an Anaheim duck, traded for a 2nd round draft pick, so that is great, now benning

has 4.6 mill to work with, maybe he will find something tomorrow when free agency opens 8 a.m. pac. time.

 

[Kreskin]

I had a hunch that Eddie Lack's recent playoff performance depreciated his value, and listening to Jim Benning this morning my suspicion gained credence. Eddie tanked the year before when Luongo was traded. This year he tanked in the playoffs. Perhaps too much nice guy and not enough killer instinct. Benning talked about keeping Markstrom because of his performance during the Calder Cup run and how he played strong when game pressure grew. Markstrom has a long way to go but you can't teach the desire to win and play under pressure.

Yet, the Canucks need to tank for a few years. To help get some young high end talent in the draft. Gillis traded away their draft base for a bunch of guys who are now over the hill and holding no-trade clauses. I don't envy the challenge ahead for Benning.

 

[talloola]

I had a hunch that Eddie Lack's recent playoff performance depreciated his value, and listening to Jim Benning this morning my suspicion gained credence. Eddie tanked the year before when Luongo was traded. This year he tanked in the playoffs. Perhaps too much nice guy and not enough killer instinct. Benning talked about keeping Markstrom because of his performance during the Calder Cup run and how he played strong when game pressure grew. Markstrom has a long way to go but you can't teach the desire to win and play under pressure.

Yet, the Canucks need to tank for a few years. To help get some young high end talent in the draft. Gillis traded away their draft base for a bunch of guys who are now over the hill and holding no-trade clauses. I don't envy the challenge ahead for Benning.

yes, I agree about markstrom, I think benning had decided he wants markstrom for the post miller days, which
is either next year, and definitely the year after, when his contract ends.

I don't agree at all that the team should tank, and start over, I like the gradual rebuild which they
started last year, which will keep them competitive, their goal will be to make the playoffs, which
this year coming is a bigger climb than it was last year. Vancouver isn't Edmonton or Toronto, where
fans will come to the games even though the team stinks, they won't, and the market and gate receipts
are first and foremost, got to put bums in the seats, and the whining Vancouver fans, which I totally
disrespect are not 'do or die' fans, they want a winner, or close to it, (and then they even whine,
unlike Edmonton and Toronto, who still show up, win or lose.
sure there were a couple of fans who threw their sweaters on the ice, but just a couple, in Edmonton and Toronto.
last year nobody thought vancouver would make the playoffs, they did, that is the goal.

the battle of alberta is reborn, both of those teams have made big moves, and this season I can see both
of them leaping ahead up the stat sheet, it will be exciting to watch. I am totally unlike the
majority of canuck fans, I like both of those teams and will be watching intently, and if canucks can't
make big gains this season, I will be cheering for one of them to do it, just this morning calgary acquired
frolik which again strengthens them. they were poor for quite a long time, and their fans still
showed up, I have a lot of respect for that loyalty, it isn't anyone's fault, most
of the time, when teams faulter,
just the nature of players getting older, and young ones not filling their shoes, benning is now
building the stock pile of prospects, and they will gradually filter onto the team, and with the
4.6 mil from the bieksa trade, maybe he will do something a bit bigger soon as well.

if miller can be more consistent this year, he can be a game changer, but he had
a few bad spells where he was not sharp, and lack had to take over, which he did,
and yes, lack did finally begin to leak later in the playoffs, and markstrom
must be a strong backup this year, if they want to be competitive.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

kevin bieksa is now an Anaheim duck, traded for a 2nd round draft pick, so that is great, now benning

has 4.6 mill to work with, maybe he will find something tomorrow when free agency opens 8 a.m. pac. time.

MMMmmm. . . duck.

 

[talloola]

I don't like the trade that canucks just made with montreal. kassian goes for branden prust coming.

a penalty killer and a fighter, I'm not impressed, and he makes about 500 thousand more than kassian.

 

[talloola]

well I still don't like that trade for kassian, but after listening to benning being interviewed twice
since, it seems they just came to the end with him, said they 'all' have spent a lot of time with
kassian, and he hasn't really responded the way they wanted, they don't go into detail, but if one
listens hard one can see that the whole situation has become tiring for them and they want to move
on and concentrate on other players, especially the young ones who will be moving onto the team
either next season, and over the next few years, to continue changing the team completely as the
older players move out.


the team might have a set back next season, BUT WAIT, didn't we say same thing about last season,
and they had a good year, made the playoffs, that was the goal, so lets see what happens before we
start getting negative about it, cause it will be the same goal, 'make the playoffs', they won't be
shooting for the moon, they aren't stupid, they know they are in transition, and other teams have
moved through that stage and are becoming much improved.

canucks aren't tanking to sit around and wait for high draft picks like Chicago,edmonton,calgary,
and others, that leaves teams doing horrible for a few years before they can compete again, and
they don't want to do horrible just to 'get' high picks, and I respect that, keep trying, keep
competing, and keep acquiring young players and develope them, that is the 'blue collar' way of
doing things, 'hard work', without playing with a losing atmosphere for 4 or 5 years, that is no
fun for the young players, its hard on the desire to win, cause there isn't much of that.

 

[Mowich]

I read that Mighty Mouse is hanging up his skates. What a career he has had. I wonder if he will be nominated for the HOF. Thanks for all the memories, Martin St Louis.

 

[Kreskin]

I don't like the trade that canucks just made with montreal. kassian goes for branden prust coming.

a penalty killer and a fighter, I'm not impressed, and he makes about 500 thousand more than kassian.

My guess is they actually want a quality fourth liner. Someone who will be content in that role. The right wingers Kassian would be up against are Virtanen, Burrows, Hansen and Vrbata. There isn't much room for a guy who shows up occasionally to flash what he might possibly be if he grows up. Prust is a left winger where there is a little more need for shoring up at the bottom of the lineup.

As for Bieksa, as I said earlier this year, when he and Edler were both hurt the young guys came in and played better than them. If not for those guys the Canucks might not have made the playoffs.

If they aren't in playoff contention next March they should do what others do, unload at the trade deadline to stock up on more draft picks. Realistically it is going to be years before they will contend again anyway so just get on with it.

 

[talloola]

My guess is they actually want a quality fourth liner. Someone who will be content in that role. The right wingers Kassian would be up against are Virtanen, Burrows, Hansen and Vrbata. There isn't much room for a guy who shows up occasionally to flash what he might possibly be if he grows up. Prust is a left winger where there is a little more need for shoring up at the bottom of the lineup.

As for Bieksa, as I said earlier this year, when he and Edler were both hurt the young guys came in and played better than them. If not for those guys the Canucks might not have made the playoffs.

If they aren't in playoff contention next March they should do what others do, unload at the trade deadline to stock up on more draft picks. Realistically it is going to be years before they will contend again anyway so just get on with it.

benning has begun to stock up on good young players, some coming along soon, and the ones he chose this
draft. yeah, if they don't make the playoffs, they will end up in a pretty good draft position anyway,
and they could trade away a couple of players, but those no-trade clauses push them into a corner, it will
be good when they are gone, even with bieksa it cornered them so they didn't have many choices at all,
but benning's priority is the young
players and the depth in the organization, and also putting a competitive team on the ice, and yes, it
seems automatic that Vancouver will be near the bottom of the division this year, but I don't like to
jump to that conclusion till I see games, we, here in the canuck world have a tendency to put our team
down all the time, they are just moving thru a change, happens to all teams, isn't cause they are bad,
its just their turn to begin a change, they missed their big chance in 2011, and now they have to start
again and work their way up the ladder. the torterella season stalled them big time, so that lost them
catching up ground, last season was a settling of leftover problems from 'that' season the year before,
and this season it will be 'to see' how many of the young players are ready to make this team and work
their butts off to stay there, maybe a couple hopefully, along with horvat.
the twins will still hold their own and keep the team respectable, along with burrows, hanson and others,
and I think they will have a pretty decent defense, not sure about goalkeeping, that is really the
key.
the media is already starting to feed the public the negativity of the team, as they don't ever see any
blue sky, they find the darkness and jump all over it, and work hard to drag fans down with them, and
they do quite well at that, so it is 'do your best' in spite of the media, as media is another hurdle
to jump over, and many other good teams don't have that problem, Anaheim is a good example, they can
have their problems, figure them out, and the fans are still coming to game in a supporting mood,
and their media don't care, they have basketball and football to think about.

I don't care about winning the cup, that is one team out of the bunch, but I do care about watching a team that can compete, work hard, gets us excited, good fast skaters, make the playoffs, win a round or two,
a team that competes each year, and 'that' isn't very far away at all, but if everyone sits around just
wanting a cup, that's boring to me, I like the meat of the season, which they did quite well at last
season, just too bad they didn't win the round, that was the disappointment.

and next year at this free agent time, benning will have some money to spend.

and don't forget, while canucks are working their way back up, there will be other teams working their
way down, Anaheim, l.a.,san jose aren't all that young any more, they have their work cut out for them
over the next few years to stay on the top end of the league.

 

[talloola]

listened to a press conference with linden and benning yesterday, and it turns out that benning could
have traded miller, he said he had calls from teams interested in acquiring him, but he doesn't want
to trade him, his philosophy is to have an experienced no 1 goalie along with a young goalie, and he
also likes markstrom very much, watched him all through the ahl playoffs, so that was his choice.
markstrom is much younger than lack, and benning wants him to become the number, one over time, as
miller plays out his contract.

most of us thought that no one wanted miller because of his age and size of contract, and maybe if he
had of traded him, he would have had to pay some of that contract over the next two years, as they
are still paying a million or so a year for longo, and that will go on for a long time, probably till
he retires.

 

[Kreskin]

I think Benning is full of it. Like he was when talking about all the goalie interest leading up to the draft and free agent date. At the end of the day they admitted there was no goalie market.

 

[talloola]

I think Benning is full of it. Like he was when talking about all the goalie interest leading up to the draft and free agent date. At the end of the day they admitted there was no goalie market.

well, there were a lot of goalies on the market at free agency time. the goalie that buffalo signed
was the first one to go, came from Ottawa and it was surprising to Vancouver and others, cause he wasn't considered a
very high pick,lack and Talbot were suppose to be the two best goalies available, and it seems that others didn't see lack as such a catch as Vancouver fans do, and
they are still whining and sniffling on the radio, mad at benning for trading him, and also kassian,
its amazing how different people view different players.

I think he was just trying to get as much for lack as he could, and trying to advertise him as a big
catch, but hardly any teams bit.

if they had kept both of the younger goalies, then they would have lost one of them on the waiver
wire eventually, as they couldn't just be sent down without that, and one of them would have had to go down.

it just seems simple to me, he wants miller, the experienced no.1, till markstrom gets broken in and
can be the no 1. he just didn't have the same respect for lack, as the fans. and all of that love
for lack is because of lacks personality, which benning couldn't care less about, maybe markstrom
has a great personality too, but nobody knows him yet.

actually miller has a real nice personality too, very quiet, thoughtful and intelligent when being
interviewed, I quite like that about him, I hope he plays well too, he is the key this season, if he
can be solid in the nets, the team can come around, but if they have to try to bale him out all the time,
they are toast, and of course most teams are in that position, but with markstrom, they can't put too much
pressure on him too soon.

 

[bill barilko]

....miller has a real nice personality too, very quiet, thoughtful and intelligent when being
interviewed, I quite like that about him....

Yes he's a thoughtful educated man quite different from some goalies around the league.

 

[JLM]

Yes he's a thoughtful educated man quite different from some goalies around the league.

Ditto for Carey Price, I was quite impressed with him after an interview or two I've seen recently.

 

[spaminator]

Sabres' Ryan O'Reilly charged with DUI after allegedly driving truck into Tim Hortons
THE CANADIAN PRESS
First posted: Monday, July 13, 2015 08:50 PM EDT | Updated: Monday, July 13, 2015 10:18 PM EDT
LUCAN, ONT. - Ontario Provincial Police have charged Buffalo Sabres forward Ryan O'Reilly with impaired driving.
The OPP said Monday in a release that police were dispatched to a single motor vehicle crash on July 9, where a green Chevrolet pickup truck struck a commercial retail building and the occupants left the vehicle.
Media reports say the truck crashed into a Tim Hortons in Lucan, Ont.
"We are aware of the reports regarding the incident involving Ryan O'Reilly last week," Sabres general manager Tim Murray said in a statement. "We are currently in the process of gathering more information and will have no further comment until we have spoken with all parties involved."
The release said O'Reilly was arrested and taken to the Middlesex County OPP detachment for breath testing.
Along with impaired driving, the 24-year-old from Bluewater, Ont., has also been charged with care or control over 80 milligrams and failing to remain at the scene of an accident.
He was released on a promise to appear and is scheduled in a London, Ont., court on Aug. 20.
In an Instagram post seven weeks ago, O'Reilly posted a picture of a green Chevrolet pickup truck that he said he had just purchased.
O'Reilly was traded from the Colorado Avalanche to Buffalo in June along with forward Jamie McGinn for Mikhail Grigorenko, JT Compher, defenceman Nikita Zadorov and the 31st pick of June's NHL draft.
The Sabres signed O'Reilly to a seven-year contract extension on July 3 for $52.5 million.
He's due to make $6.2 million next season.
Last year with the Avalanche, O'Reilly scored 17 goals and 38 assists in 82 games.
Sabres' Ryan O'Reilly charged with DUI after allegedly driving truck into Tim Ho
musta been hungry for timbits.

 

[talloola]

Ditto for Carey Price, I was quite impressed with him after an interview or two I've seen recently.

yes carey price, whom I watched many manytimes being interviewed is a very grounded individual, I've always
been very impressed at how down to earth he is, very unaffected by all the hype and media and silliness
that goes on around any celebrities, he always seems to stay just outside such things, and stay within
himself, and I'm sure all who know him would say he has not changed one bit from the young man in
the small town in the interior of b.c. to the man he is today.

little kids can learn a lot from him as they grow up playing sports, and I'm sure ryan miller fits right
into that picture as well, in fact i'll go a step further and say that hockey players in general
compared to many other professional sports people, are a step above.

Sabres' Ryan O'Reilly charged with DUI after allegedly driving truck into Tim Hortons
THE CANADIAN PRESS
First posted: Monday, July 13, 2015 08:50 PM EDT | Updated: Monday, July 13, 2015 10:18 PM EDT
LUCAN, ONT. - Ontario Provincial Police have charged Buffalo Sabres forward Ryan O'Reilly with impaired driving.

seems no one else was injured in this incident, and I hope this is a one off from his usual behavior,
and he will learn from it, lets wait till complete story comes out to learn more.

 

[JLM]

Sabres' Ryan O'Reilly charged with DUI after allegedly driving truck into Tim Hortons
THE CANADIAN PRESS

Sabres' Ryan O'Reilly charged with DUI after allegedly driving truck into Tim Ho
musta been hungry for timbits.

Could have been too drunk to walk in there!

yes carey price, whom I watched many manytimes being interviewed is a very grounded individual, I've always
been very impressed at how down to earth he is, very unaffected by all the hype and media and silliness
that goes on around any celebrities, he always seems to stay just outside such things, and stay within
himself, and I'm sure all who know him would say he has not changed one bit from the young man in
the small town in the interior of b.c. to the man he is today.

little kids can learn a lot from him as they grow up playing sports, and I'm sure ryan miller fits right
into that picture as well, in fact i'll go a step further and say that hockey players in general
compared to many other professional sports people, are a step above.

I've been to Anahim Lake, his home town a couple of times- spent a few days there fishing- people are basic and down to earth there, nothing fancy smancy!