CWSGuy406

I'll admit to not knowing the 'mechanics' of hockey that well, but I don't like how the Hawks attack on a 5-on-3. I can see why Savard has Byfuglien at the point -- he, after all, has the hardest shot of anyone on the team. On a 5-on-3 though, I don't think it needs to be about how hard your shot is. I'd much rather see them place Byfuglien where he belongs -- right in front of the net. That takes one of the three defenders (basically) out of the play, as they have to try and fight for position with Byfuglien. If you put a diamond or a box around Byfuglien, then it would seem to give the Hawks some better looks. They'd also be able to use a little more 'placement' in their shots as the goalie most likely won't be able to see a good third of the shots.

QUOTE(SoxFanForever @ Mar 9, 2008 -> 05:55 PM) Any idea as to his timetable before he is ready for the AHL/NHL? I'll qualify this by saying it's really nothing more than a guess and someone smarter than me could probably give you a better answer: I'd say next year they'll try to sign him to a contract and get him in the A. I think this year is his second season in the OHL, and as shown with Hjalmarsson, they're not afraid to 'rush' guys a little bit. Then again, even Hjalmarsson was born in '87 -- Aliu is really, really young and even being in the AHL next year would be quite the jump (he doesn't turn 19 until April). So after typing all that, my simple answer is "I don't know." If forced to answer I'd say he'll be ready for cups-of-coffee in the NHL during the 2009-2010 season and ready for full-time during the 2010-2011 season, but he is a talented kid, so it wouldn't surprise me if he gets a taste of the NHL towards the end of next season. If IlliniKrush sees this he may be able to give you a better answer than my sporadic sprawlings.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Mar 9, 2008 -> 06:50 AM) The crowd got really quiet when I yelled "f*** you bill walker", but I wasn't the only one to do so. Part of me hopes he would stick around just to mess things up in Manhattan. You showed him.

QUOTE(MurcieOne @ Mar 9, 2008 -> 05:30 PM) Aliu got a cross check to the back while he was on the ground, I would have reacted like that too... Aliu is a really aggressive player.... if not for a fight with a teammate a couple years back - he probably would have been a first round pick. I'm excited to watch him develop. I'm pretty sure Aliu gets somewhat of a bad rep. As you said, this guy deserved what he got -- cross checking him not only head-first into the boards, but to keep cross checking him when he's on the ground? I can assure you that won't be happening anymore, heh-heh. And the other fight you allude to was with grade-A ass-sock Steve Downie, who felt it necessary to do that rookie hazing/initiation BS to Aliu. Downie has always been a prick -- he was a prick in the WJCs that I watched (I'm pretty sure one of Jack or Eric Johnson wanted to completely rip his head off) and he's obviously been a cheap-shot prick in his short time in the NHL. Aliu may be the most exciting prospect the Hawks currently have. He can score, he's willing to drop the gloves with anybody -- type "Akim Aliu" into YouTube and one of the first clips is of him dropping the gloves with a guy who has to be at least 6"5. Aliu eventually gets dropped BIG TIME but not before he dances with the guy for a minute or so and gets some good shots in himself. In other words, Aliu is one tough sonnuvab**** -- and he (quite obviously) plays the physical game. The city of Chicago will take to Aliu like no other. He's currently scoring at a PPG pace for London, and this is as an 18-year old.

Akim Aliu is not to be f***ed with.

QUOTE(fathom @ Mar 9, 2008 -> 02:50 AM) Great dunk, but it would have been nice if Dicky V acknowledged the play. You would have thought it was a lay-up. I was gonna say... why no replay? No, let's show Paulus hitting a wide-open three. I also like the lack of acknowledgment when Paulus pulls up from three feet beyond the arc and bricks it -- that's just a terrible decision.

OMG! PAULUS = PWNED! f***ING PWNED!

Enjoy the NIT, Syracuse -- f***ing scum.

Looking at the big picture (this week), we got four out of six points against Anaheim, San Jose and Minny. I'm sure everyone here would have taken that at the beginning of the week. Gotta win tomorrow, though -- that's for sure. It could be prime territory for a let-down, too -- the crowd is definitely going to have to 'bring the ruckus' to keep the players amped. As a separate note... damn if the Hawks aren't really, really close to being really, really good. The United Center is rocking on (basically) a nightly basis, we have legit franchise players in just about every spot except goalie and we're young. What an exciting time to be a fan of the indianhead.

bmaggs, mhizzle, soxace -- or anyone else who cares to chime in... Talib Kweli is playing a free show at Marquette. Is he someone worth seeing?

During warm-ups right now, all the Hawk players are wearing either #21 or 9 in honor of Hull and Mikita. That's one helluva gesture. Another tip-of-the-cap to Rocky and McDonough.

QUOTE(CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Mar 7, 2008 -> 02:40 AM) When I joined Soxtalk I thought it would be like a community of like minded individuals. Instead it's like nitpickers central who ridicule any minor error and resort to name calling if you can't spend the better part of your day looking up stats to support your opinion. There are many great posters who are intelligent but there is a very vocal minority who are rude. The object is not to use the power of knowledge to inform or teach but instead to "own" or destroy the opposition. Oh yes, wouldn't that be wonderful -- everyone praising and loving everything Kenny and Ozzie do. Oooh, I get chills just thinking about it. Kenny just signed Darin Erstad? Oh goodie! He only gave him $750K? He should've been MORE generous! Yay yay, everybody's happy! ---------------------- I think a good part of this debate is stubbornness. I'm certainly glad I'm not as closed-minded as some people, but that plays a big part in this debate that always rears its head. It's tough to admit the way you've thought about the game for ____ years is partially or completely wrong. After all, you've been using stats like RBIs and batting average and pitcher wins/losses since you were a kid -- it just can't be wrong!

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Mar 7, 2008 -> 01:21 AM) I actually grabbed some face value outside the stadium last time this happened a week or two ago. Its worth trying if you are in the area. I'm still in Milwaukee till next Wednesday so that's a no-go. Did you see my last PM, BTW?

Tomorrow night's game is pretty much completely sold-out -- only standing room left.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Mar 6, 2008 -> 01:34 PM) Dye was also a three month rental at the time. Now he has a two year contract. That makes a big difference in trade dealings. That's a two-way street. He's also a year older, knee a little balkier. If he hits like he did in the second half of last year (or like he did in 2006), that's one thing, but otherwise, he's a 34-year old DH playing RF. He's got some value that'll vary on how he hits. ----------- The Sox shouldn't be in the business of building up the best farm system, you're completely right about that. But even with all the trades that have made, there's no reason it should ever be as bad as it currently is right now. It's a pathetic state right now. That's not to say good players won't come out of it, but in this case "perceived" value helps -- just who is Kenny going to deal if he wants to supplement the 2008 team? There's not a lot down there. And again, you're stretching the value of a lot of Sox players. Cabrera? Nobody's going to give up very much for half a season of an average shortstop. Linebrink? Heh. Contreras? Only if he bounces back to (at the very least) average levels and, even so, teams aren't going to give up a lot for a 36 (hah, that's good) year old with a balky back. And also, you say the Sox clearly have the right frame of mind (or something close to that -- it's the morning, I'm operating on four hours of sleep here, so cut me some slack!) trading for Quentin... yet as of today, he appears to be the second horse in a two-horse race. Hell, Anderson is outperforming him. If Quentin doesn't start, it shows to me an organization with a clear lack of direction. Quentin has nothing left to do in the minors and deserves to be starting, yet the Sox are going to stick him behind a player whose upside (absolute upside, the best player he could possibly be -- I'm being nice and stretching things here) is 2003 Juan Pierre? Maybe I'm jumping the gun a bit here with Quentin here, but if the season started today, do you honestly believe we'd see Quentin in LF when Carmona is on the mound for game two? I certainly don't...

Steeeeeeve Gerrard Gerrard! Torres also rounding into form for the match-up at Inter with six goals in his last two games.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Mar 6, 2008 -> 05:48 AM) Question for those smarter than I: Is Crawford a young fill in type at goalie, or is he somebody the Hawks think can eventually be a solid and legit, consistent starter in the NHL? That's the million dollar question -- your best guess would be as good as anybody else's. I've heard people from both camps say different things. He's not a Carey Price, a guy you trade your starter for so he can step in. At the same time, he probably needs a shot in the NHL to see whether he can stick -- I don't think he's got a whole lot left to do in the AHL.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Mar 6, 2008 -> 04:11 AM) I think we're only 4 points back of 8th now though, even in games. Four points out of seventh, man -- oh yeah, the Hawks are big-time now. That's gotta be one of the best wins of the past couple seasons. The effort by Kane on the ByfuglienBarker goal was awesome. Kane got completely crunched by Neidermyer, one of those half-bending-over, head-into-the-boards type shots and he stayed down for a good couple seconds before getting up and staying in the play. He eventually made a nice rink-wide feed to Barker who showed some nice patience, waited for things to open up and got it through. Awesome game.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Mar 6, 2008 -> 12:59 AM) Get it? So we're gonna trade Danks -- a 22-year old lefty -- for what reason, exactly? And to a lesser extent, Josh Fields? And also -- 10 players before Dye? Really? I'm struggling to come up with half that amount. You seem to be arguing just for the sake of arguing. The insinuation seemed to be -- and iamshack can jump in and correct me if I'm wrong -- that if Kenny wanted to, he could deal most of the vets/post-arb guys and restock the farm. I didn't take that to mean guys like Swisher, Fields and Danks were included. Jenks was, OTOH, included, because it's always been my presumption that the Sox could make an absolute killing off of dealing Jenks.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Mar 5, 2008 -> 08:47 PM) What are you really trying to even get at with this post? Are you insuating that Dye would be one of Sox best trading chips? I could think of probably 10 others before Dye, those of which could infact re-stock a system. I think the insinuation is quite clear, really -- what's the problem?. Are teams really going to be nipping at the bit to jump at current Sox players, so much so that the Sox could immediately become a top farm system? Let's go through with the hypothetical scenario where the Sox blow-goat in the first half and decide they want to hit the reset button. We have some guys who would bring good returns and others who I'm not really sure about. In order of goodness on a return: Jenks - Maybe a bit controversial here, because he certainly wouldn't provide as much value as a starter or a position player, but you'd be getting a player who is somewhat cost-controlled -- somewhat because next year, IIRC, will be his first arb year -- young and is one of the best closers in the game (which also adds a bunch of 'intangible' value of being a closer). Vazquez / Buehrle - Above average pitchers locked up for more than one year, but still different from Haren (cost-controlled, younger) and Santana (best pitcher in baseball). The Sox would get a decent haul for trading both of these guys. I doubt the Sox'd get an Adam Jones-type prospect in either package -- could certainly be wrong about that, though. Konerko - Slightly above average player with an assload of intangible goodness plus a bunch of those neat little tags (playoff proven, crafty veteran, clubhouse leader) as well as a manageable contract. The one player I'm leaving out is Dye -- if he performs closer to his second-half numbers of last season, he's probably right there with Konerko as far as a return. If he performs closer to his *overall* 2007 numbers, it's probably a B-prospect-or-two type return. I don't think I'm leaving out anyone else of significance. The OC? Yeah, I'm sure teams will be lining up at the door, offering up Lastings Milledges and Matt Kemps, for a half-season of a slightly-better-than-average, 33 (?)-year-old shortstop. Enough clarification?

QUOTE(iamshack @ Mar 5, 2008 -> 06:07 PM) Once again, and I am tired of having to remind people of this. You'd deal all the quality veterans you have for young kids, and you could have one of the best systems in baseball. As Kenny has said, he could build a great farm system in 2 weeks if that was the goal. Sort of like last summer, when the best offer the Sox could get for Jermaine Dye was Wily Mo Pena straight up?

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Mar 5, 2008 -> 02:08 PM) I really love how I was greatly chastised for claiming that Patrick Lalime was a better goaltender than Nikolai Khabibulin, have been proven correct, yet am still generally ignored by the two who flipped out on me in this thread for making such an "outrageous" point. Classy. That's really not what the claim was -- you were insinuating that others said something that they didn't say -- which most of us have grown to expect from your brilliance -- and were called out on it. And now you're back to poke and pry. Again -- not really a surprise. You played hockey though and worked for the Hawks, so always remember that your opinion >>>>>>>>>>>> ours. And keep mentioning it, too, please. Also notice how you're the one -- to everyone's surprise, I'm sure -- digging up the old hatchet. So please -- never throw s*** my way ever again about being immature or anything of the like.

Wow, what a victory. I didn't see the game but I had this as a loss, easy. Nashville's winning big so you gotta hope for the Vancouver/Colorado game to only dole out two points.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Mar 4, 2008 -> 01:03 AM) It wasnt their ability that made them bad, it was the fact that they were injured the entire season. There also werent really any betterin house options. Jerry could very well end up being a good lead off hitter. Of course the only player that has really seriously been mentioned as the lead off hitter in the papers has been Swish, but that hasnt stopped Soxtalk from jumping to its collective conclusions. I don't think you've been paying attention. And with Erstad, of course it was his ability that made him bad. He was healthy for the first two months and... subsequently put up a .315 OBP which, quite frankly, should've been expected. I believe ZiPS and PECOTA had him pegged for around .330. Erstad as 4th OFer/bench player = okay. Erstad as starter (going back to the end of 2004, really). And ditto Podsednik, who hasn't been a good ballplayer since the first-half of 2005 (and the playoffs, of course -- thanks Scott!).

I'd say the only thing Kane has on Toews is his vision. Toews is better in the corners, better in his own end, better in front of the net, faster and has a better wrist-shot. I understand some of those are subjective -- especially the last two -- but I'd take Toews in all of those areas. I'm not meaning to s*** on Kane, either -- I hope both #19 and 88 are here for the next 15+ years -- but it'd be difficult for me to put Kane on the same level (or better) than Toews. The stats back this up, as Toews has a slightly better PPG, and I don't think we need to discuss who brings more to the defensive end. Oh, and Alex O blows both of them out of the water. What an awesome player. What a wonderful time to be a hockey fan -- gobs of great young talent has been infused in the league over the past couple seasons, headlined by Crosby and Ovechkin, both of whom (IMO) are tough to root against. Somewhat relating to that note, the NHL really needs to look at setting up another World Cup in the next five years -- it's a shame that it isn't a consistent event. It needs to be and should be like the WBC and the more popular soccerfootball World Cup.