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Post by Deer on Aug 11, 2007 11:58:36 GMT -4
Back to the topic of training camp, does anyone else just not feel like it should be happening this soon?
Man, last season just ended! I'm not ready for hockey yet at all.
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Post by hal on Aug 11, 2007 12:15:49 GMT -4
CJCB has just signed on for 2 more years.Ken MacNeil who is a big Pro -Pascal guy even though he's only 5'4" tall has re-upped also.Not one mention of anything and it's less than a week away.I know a guy who billets players and he has heard next to nothing,other than telling them that he is going to stay on as a Billet ! Go Figure !
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Draft Pick
Long Live The Vees!
Posts: 108
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Post by crossbar on Aug 12, 2007 8:12:24 GMT -4
Back to the topic of training camp, does anyone else just not feel like it should be happening this soon? Man, last season just ended! I'm not ready for hockey yet at all. Yeah, it feels like last week that things ended. What I'm going to find hard, and the same thing happened last time, is adjusting to the talent level of this years squad. I mean we had a REAL nice defensive unit last year, and have had top caliblre goaltending for as as far as I remember. This year it's likely two rookies in net and a defensive unit that doesn't have the same composure & experience as a Sawyer, Bourdon and Bartulis. I don't think we'll have a lot of trouble scoring goals as even a line up "sans Sheppard" still has a lot of offensive punch, but I'm very curious to see how we shape up defensively. Whens the last time we saw a 7-6 game, or something along those lines? Might be something we see more of this year than we have for a while.
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Post by Davey Boy Smith on Aug 12, 2007 17:38:53 GMT -4
It is nice to have the CJCB deal in place WELL ahead of the season opener - we won't have any repeat of last year's embarrassing radio dark hole to start the year. I wonder if the upcoming launch of new radio stations NOT linked to Cape Breton Radio had anything to do with that!
We will have a young team to be sure but such is the way of Q hockey. Hard to believe it is less than a week away from training camp!
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Post by curtis on Aug 13, 2007 9:08:26 GMT -4
daveyboysmith, we (Moncton) had a a very young team here last season, and I can tell you it was a lot of fun watching guys who looked like they should still be in AAA at the start of the season turn into real nice looking players by the end (Labelle, Lessard, etc...). "Rebuilding" years can still make for entertaining hockey!
And, by the way, thanks for sending us Brannon and Barberio. :-)
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Post by hal on Aug 13, 2007 10:30:50 GMT -4
daveyboysmith, we (Moncton) had a a very young team here last season, and I can tell you it was a lot of fun watching guys who looked like they should still be in AAA at the start of the season turn into real nice looking players by the end (Labelle, Lessard, etc...). "Rebuilding" years can still make for entertaining hockey! And, by the way, thanks for sending us Brannon and Barberio. :-) Your Welcome ! Our Management felt that Barberio and Brannon was worth the Investment ! Like Stuart MacLeod said............."we felt like if we made it to the third round that we would consider it a sucessful year" ! : Now having said that ,we are left with the following scenarios : - The Board of Directors thinks that playing for the Title every three years or so is not a necessity !We trade 2 1st Rounders to get out of the 2nd Round ! - Last Year was "NOT" our Year to go for it ! - They really don't know what they are doing ! * Take your Pick !
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Post by Clubber Lang on Aug 13, 2007 10:33:55 GMT -4
daveyboysmith, we (Moncton) had a a very young team here last season, and I can tell you it was a lot of fun watching guys who looked like they should still be in AAA at the start of the season turn into real nice looking players by the end (Labelle, Lessard, etc...). "Rebuilding" years can still make for entertaining hockey! And, by the way, thanks for sending us Brannon and Barberio. :-) Your Welcome ! Our Management felt that Barberio and Brannon was worth the Investment ! Like Stuart MacLeod said............."we felt like if we made it to the third round that we would consider it a sucessful year" ! : Now having said that ,we are left with the following scenarios : - The Board of Directors thinks that playing for the Title every three years or so is not a necessity !We trade 2 1st Rounders to get out of the 2nd Round ! - Last Year was "NOT" our Year to go for it ! - They really don't know what they are doing ! * Take your Pick ! No brainer! All of the above! Ridiculous to read some of the comments made by the eagles brass.
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Post by Jack Bauer on Aug 13, 2007 12:39:24 GMT -4
daveyboysmith, we (Moncton) had a a very young team here last season, and I can tell you it was a lot of fun watching guys who looked like they should still be in AAA at the start of the season turn into real nice looking players by the end (Labelle, Lessard, etc...). "Rebuilding" years can still make for entertaining hockey! And, by the way, thanks for sending us Brannon and Barberio. :-) Your Welcome ! Our Management felt that Barberio and Brannon was worth the Investment ! Like Stuart MacLeod said............."we felt like if we made it to the third round that we would consider it a sucessful year" ! : Now having said that ,we are left with the following scenarios : - The Board of Directors thinks that playing for the Title every three years or so is not a necessity !We trade 2 1st Rounders to get out of the 2nd Round ! - Last Year was "NOT" our Year to go for it ! - They really don't know what they are doing ! * Take your Pick ! I'd honestly rather him come out with that then to shit all over the team that lost in round 3. We went up against our equal and lost in an extremely hard fought and entertaining 7 game series. Nobody liked losing in round 3, but we can't say we lost to an inferior opponent like we have in the past. So I can honestly understand why the board made those comments after the loss. I'm pissed at the teams horrible marketing and overall complacent attitude re: Vincent and Paul MacDonald but I will NOT dump on them for Brannon & Barberio for Bourdon because it's a trade we had to make to take out shot at the Cup. Yes, we failed. But if we don't make the trade then we're left talking all summer about what could of been. I'll take the go for it and see what happens approach over the sit on the fence and hope we have enough approach any day of the week. Personally I think Brannon is a tad over rated and will be suprised if he's ever a 1st line player in Moncton. Maybe a 2nd line 20-25 goal scoring power forward in his prime but thats a disapointment based on what our expectations were when we drafted him. We'll miss Barberio but that's the price of going for it, gotta give something to get something. Now all that said, I'm NOT ok with trading like that unless we are on the other end of it in our rebuilding years. Now we need to be the sellers and looking to move Sheppard and Ouellet for the future. We can not afford to let more star players play out their careers on mediocre teams while clinging to the hope of the Pascal Vincent playoff upset to rejuvenate some fan interest in a down year. It's a very poor way for a franchise to operate and the only excuse they now have for operating that way is that eventually I guess it's bound to happen.
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Post by Deer on Aug 13, 2007 13:15:57 GMT -4
daveyboysmith, we (Moncton) had a a very young team here last season, and I can tell you it was a lot of fun watching guys who looked like they should still be in AAA at the start of the season turn into real nice looking players by the end (Labelle, Lessard, etc...). "Rebuilding" years can still make for entertaining hockey! And, by the way, thanks for sending us Brannon and Barberio. :-) Your Welcome ! Our Management felt that Barberio and Brannon was worth the Investment ! Like Stuart MacLeod said............."we felt like if we made it to the third round that we would consider it a sucessful year" ! : Now having said that ,we are left with the following scenarios : - The Board of Directors thinks that playing for the Title every three years or so is not a necessity !We trade 2 1st Rounders to get out of the 2nd Round ! - Last Year was "NOT" our Year to go for it ! - They really don't know what they are doing ! * Take your Pick ! Ah, glad to see I'm not alone in my cynicism right now. Usually around this time of year I'm chomping at the bit to get back to the rink........ a new season, a new building cycle, which ordinarily would be great things to look forward to........ yet so much remains the same. To many organizations, a new building cycle is an open road of endless possibilities............ for ours, well we've had the same head coach for eight seasons now and three big runs at the title and are amazingly returning the same guy for yet another building cycle.......... it's not really such an open road is it?
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Post by caper18 on Aug 13, 2007 13:24:14 GMT -4
do we know a schedule of any sort for training cmp yet? i'm comin home from ingo for a few days for my b-day and i'd like to take in some intersquad or sumthin.
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Post by hal on Aug 13, 2007 13:39:53 GMT -4
First thing I want to make clear is that I was not against the Trade but if U did it and don't get a shot at the Belt.............expect critisism.The fans thought they were getting the #1 guy in the League and he wasn't.He realistically didn't make the noise that David Cloutier did in 2002.As far as Brannon goes when he comes here and hits everything in sight U might not think the same about him.As far as Buffet Boy and Shinyhead go .................expect a lot of the same,it's worked quite well for them so far !
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Post by Deer on Aug 13, 2007 13:48:35 GMT -4
First thing I want to make clear is that I was not against the Trade but if U did it and don't get a shot at the Belt.............expect critisism.The fans thought they were getting the #1 guy in the League and he wasn't.He realistically didn't make the noise that David Cloutier did in 2002.As far as Brannon goes when he comes here and hits everything in sight U might not think the same about him.As far as Buffet Boy and Shinyhead go .................expect a lot of the same,it's worked quite well for them so far ! Brannon can hit everything he wants......... but I agree with Jack that he tops out at about a 20-25 goal/50-60 point guy.......... still a good player and a kind of guy pretty much any team would want......... but not quite what we were expecting when we traded a 2nd rounder away to move up in the draft and pick him 6th overall. Agree with you that while Bourdon wasn't a total disappointment and was actually our best defenceman in the Val d'or series......... he overall didn't quite have the impact that say David Cloutier had in 2002. One thing that I think hurt this team a bit was how Bourdon clearly half-assed it in his regular season time here. We had a team that had been built over 2.5 seasons on pure hard work and determination......... and then we parachute in this pretty much celebrity who all these guys have seen on TV at the WJC and who some of these guys may be a little bit in awe of............. and the example they get from him is to just coast until playoff time and then flick the switch and turn it up? Someone suggested to me that it may not have had the best impact on the team's overall work ethic and they may have a good point. At the very least, it was a bit of a deviation from the whole "Will over Skill" thing that was preached so very hardcore after the 04 disaster.
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Post by brec7 on Aug 14, 2007 0:10:50 GMT -4
What people should remember if you're going to compare Cloutier's impact to Bourdon's is their play in the games that mattered the most. I remember Cloutier somewhat doing a disappearing act in the series against Bathurst where the Eagles went out with a wimper, whereas Bourdon was clearly the best defenseman in the series against Val'dor. As for his regular season play, I just think he didn't want to risk any injury.
I have no regrets about the organisation making that trade but agree with Jack that if you make deals to go for it, you have to make deals to empty the tank in rebuilding years. However given the team's philosophy in recent years I'm not sold on the fact that this will sell at the deadline come Christmas.
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Post by Clubber Lang on Aug 14, 2007 13:14:23 GMT -4
Brannon is prone to concussions and his physical play may limit his playing time. Losing Brannon was not that bad but Barbeiro was tough but to take a shot you need a horse and Bourdon filled the void. Obviously we would not have made the trade two or three years ago based on our projected playoff run.
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Post by Deer on Aug 15, 2007 11:43:36 GMT -4
Brannon is prone to concussions and his physical play may limit his playing time. Losing Brannon was not that bad but Barbeiro was tough but to take a shot you need a horse and Bourdon filled the void. Obviously we would not have made the trade two or three years ago based on our projected playoff run. At times I think that Bourdon filled the void, but at other times I think back to plays like the Foreurs' extremely crucial first goal in Game 7. They were down 1-0 heading into the third, things were actually looking reasonably good for the Eagles, but that goal just seconds into the period really turned the tide in Vdo's favour and they never looked back. On the play, the puck was thrown into our zone and Bourdon basically coasted back after it. This Team Canada all-star/guy with NHL experience basically coasted back towards it, and was horribly beaten to it by Brad Marchand...... even though Bourdon had a sizeable head start on Marchand. Brad took it, wheeled around the net, and threw it out front to Roy who scored to begin the end for the Eagles. As well as Luc played during much of the series, one fan told me that that play was his lasting impression of Bourdon as an Eagle. Too harsh? You be the judge I guess. But in light of plays like that, it's hard to swallow the fact that we lost Barberio.......... who could end up better than Bourdon when all is said and done.
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