Elite prospects scouting report says he is a "large goalie with fast reflexes. Could improve his sideways movement. Sometimes has trouble with high shots on his blocker side and gives up too many rebounds." Sounds perfect.
Nihlstorp is apparently getting some interest from the Oilers according to this article. If we are to believe Mr. Google's European cousin Translate Edmonton may offer him a deal but they're not going to worry until it happens. Nihlstorp played in 23 SEL games and posted a SP of .923; his team won the SEL championship. Nihlstrop was not the starting goalie, that honor went to Alexander Salak.
Salak was acquired by Chicago from Florida in the Frolik-Skille deal in February. Salak is a much better prospect than Nihlstorp based on career progression and their current roles. I suspect the signing of Nihlstorp would be considered a depth, OKC Barons type signing should it happen.
Nihlstorp would likely partner with Olivier Roy as possibles for the Barons, with Stockton seeing the other guy. One would guess Nihlstorp might be a contender for the AHL starter/third NHL goalie (the Gerber role) role. We wait.
EDIT TO ADD: The goalie's agent denies the reports here.
I'm enjoying the Oilers like font on that jersey.
ReplyDeleteAs for the goalie, what ever happened to Fasth? Maybe sign em both for a year and see which one can out duel the other? However we have all seen what a 3 (or even 4) headed goalie monster looks like in Edmonton and it's not pretty. It kind of resembles Sloth from the goonies, and that's on a good day.
Ok, CBC can officially get bent. I'm OK with a pre-game highlight montage of the previous five games, but to put the damn Aaron Rome hit on Nathan Horton into it? Sickening.
ReplyDeleteAs I've said all playoffs, F*ck the Nucks. Go Bruins.
I think Thomas would have had that one,
ReplyDeleteEdit:I think Thomas would have stopped that one too.
I'm showin my age here, but remember the TV show Maude? "God will get you for that Walter."
ReplyDeleteLuongo lets that first goal in because he doesn't come out and challenge like Thomas. That trade-off and his comments bit him in the ass on the second Boston shot of the game.
If i'm going after a Euro goalie i give Finland's world championship goalie a shot. Petri Vehanen was the KHL's top goaltender in 2009-2010, and led his team to the championship. He's older at 34 but his stats have always been very good as a starter, and goalies often get better with age. He may seem obscure, but consider he outplayed Fasth in the tournament and the final of the worlds. A good vet for the young euros and Dubnyk.
ReplyDeleteI hopethey save some of these goals for game 7.
ReplyDeleteEmbarrassing.
The time in Boston is now officially 15 past Luongo.
ReplyDeleteBadda boom.
Hughson sounds like someone stole his firstborn.
ReplyDeleteWell...4-0...just wow. Here's hoping the Bruins saved some for game 7 =).
ReplyDeleteI have to say this is the strangest SCF I can ever recall. I mean, it's insane.
ReplyDeleteI remember ONE GAME many years ago where the Habs played the Sabres and BOTH teams scored from everywhere (final score way maybe 6-4 BUFF with Rene Robert scoring one of the most unique goals in the game's history: it was a shot from the crease STRAIGHT UP and hit the mesh beyond the crossbar and came right back out. Still don't know how the refs got it right).
That was one game. This is three games now in Boston where Luongo looks like he's never played the position.
It is incredible.
And it wasn't the SCF either (that MON-BUF game).
ReplyDeleteI presume they will go with Luongo in G7 but shortest leash in history I would think.
ReplyDeleteServes him right for opening his yap.
I'm with you LT. Have never seen anything like this.
This is bizarre, no doubt, one for the ages. I can't think of another series like this one. Even the lights going out in the Gardens isn't as bizarre as this series. Ana played some bizarre series way way back in their first shot, but there is stuff happening in this series every two friggin minutes.
ReplyDeleteVancouver have been really odd the past couple seasons. They've had franchise record setting losing streaks at home or away, and break it with the game that starts a new record winning streak. Really odd crew.
ReplyDeleteClosing thing I can think this series compares to is the 1960 World Series. P
ReplyDeleteittsburgh beat NYY 4 games to 3, but in the games NY won, they absolutely killed the Pirates (10-0, 16-3 and 12-3).
They had to take Raymond to the hospital. Wonder what kind of impact that will have if he can't come back for game 7.
And if it wasn't easy enough to detest the C*ntnucks by now...that Edler hit on Peverley was nothing short of pure garbage.
ReplyDeleteKarma says Bruins in 7. To quote Lowetide - "There's just too much there."
HBomb: I thought LT's moniker was "saw him good"....hmmm...back to the drawing board.
ReplyDeleteThe Boychuk hit on Raymond was dirty also. The puck was long gone (multiple seconds), and he guided/drove Raymond into the boards in a vulnerable position from the faceoff circle.
ReplyDeleteEdler just returned the cheap shot.
Rich: My Dad used to tell me about that series, and an old friend of mine used to keep me in stitches by recalling it for me. My buddy made a deal with his Mom that he could stay home and watch the game (I assume it was a weekday and a school day game) and he got to see the game winning home run that killed his Yankees.
ReplyDeleteLife is unfair. :-)
That boychuk hit happens very shift of every NHL game. Two players engage, hold and scrub them against the boards. It was justnunfortunate Raymond was in an awkward position.
ReplyDeleteHitting someone on an icing call is completely different.
Ditto Danny, especially when the other player clearly is at the puck first and you have no hope in tartarus of doing anything about it. That was a blatant cheap and dangerous shot.
ReplyDeleteI like Edler but that one was a real doozy, can't defend it.
LT: My uncle told me about that series too (he and I are still the only Yankee fans in the family and are considered the black sheep among the rest of the dago's on mom's side).
ReplyDeleteStengel was at the end of his career as the manager and he started Whitey Ford in Games 3 and 6 (why he didn't start game 1 was proof to my uncle that Casey had finally lost his marbles). They start the series with him and he insists it could have been a very different story. Took him years to get over that.
I'd say Vigneault has a decision to make abouit who starts game 7.
So game 7 is going to be in Vancouver? Why? Because they had more points than the B's. Why did they have more points? Because they played in a division where not one other team made the playoffs and they were 18-6 against those, more nights than not, "shit" teams. Meanwhile, the Bruins played in probably the strongest division in the league where they had a record of 9-11. My numbers, by the way, are totally unofficial but assuming they are right you have VAN in a
ReplyDelete+24 pts. position while the B's were -4 for a total differential of 28 points. Vancouver finished 14 points ahead of Boston. Is it any wonder? So again, game 7 is in VAN. What does all this mean? Not a fucking thing. See you Wed. night.
You could tape a hockey stick to a muskox's hoof and he'd have more ability than Milan Lucic. Probably look better doing it to.
ReplyDeleteClarkenstein, good points all. I will argue that last change seems to have a huge impact so far in this series. Julien has a much tougher time getting the match ups he wants in Vancouver.
ReplyDeleteHere's hoping the Bruins can shut the yaps of the Canucks up for the Summer on Wednesday regardless.
Rich: thanks for that.
ReplyDeleteI was racking my brain tonight trying to think of a series where there was that much of a difference in wins and losses and I knew it was baseball but couldn't put my finger on it.
Bos has been close in two of their three losses in Van but Van hasn't been close in any of the games in Bos.
I never thought I'd say this but Bos has been the better team.
Agreed Dennis. Chances have been pretty close though, haven't they?
ReplyDeleteMan, you can just see Seguin's skill when he's got the puck. He's so intelligent. I can see the dilemma for MBS and others last year. Hall and Seguin are completely different players. It'd be hard to choose between them.
What a save by Schneider there. Boston recovers quickly and converts.
ReplyDeleteI was sure that Luongo needed to go in net for next game, but then Schneider went and put on a show.
ReplyDeleteThen a beautiful pass and he's beat.
I am glad I am not an invested fan.
BTW, that World Series sounded insane. Makes this SCF look tame.
BTW, that World Series sounded insane. Makes this SCF look tame.
ReplyDeleteOnly way it makes this series look tame is if they took bats to each other between innings.This series is nasty.
I wonder what the worst goal differential for a winning team in the scf's. If Vancouver wins a close game seven, I bet they are at or near the top of the list.
ReplyDeletePlease win bruins....
Gotta love Tim Thomas, he's so aloof and carefree, its the perfect mannerisms for a goaltender.
ReplyDeleteitsaleaf - go to CopperNBlue - I think Scott took a look at this and its not even close, Canucks are way way off
ReplyDeleteMan do I wish Boston can keep this up in Vancouver in the next game. Why do they play so completely different away from home?
ReplyDeleteThat diving call on a Sedin early in the game was great. Hope the refs in game seven are just as good and have been watching their DVDs.
I notice the absence of a certain Canucks fan whenever they lose. Just sayin'.
ReplyDeleteBahahaha...Gillis complaining about penalties again. What a card.
ReplyDelete..Guess I shouldn't laugh too hard. I think it worked last time.
ReplyDeleteRibs: broken back 6 months to heal!
ReplyDeleteClassy!
Man do I wish Boston can keep this up in Vancouver in the next game. Why do they play so completely different away from home?
ReplyDeleteDiffrent jurisdiction!
Used to work out with Sutherland in summer when he worked the WHL. Seemed like honourable guy. And did not miss things. Sure is this series. Guy must be worried about his job.
rickibear - I wouldn't be as amused if that was all that he was complaining about. It's fair for him to say something about that because their was an injury and it should have been some kind of penalty. No one saw the play as being malicious on the ice so it is understandable that there was no call, though.
ReplyDeleteIt's bringing up other stuff like Marchand punching Sedin that is laughable.
The refs are letting some things go and whining about it is one route to take...Fighting back is another.
After re-reading the Dreger piece, it may have been Sedin complaining about being roughed up and not Gillis. So I'll give Gillis that. It's still the Canucks whining about the refs.
ReplyDeletehttp://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2011/06/14/columbus-hot-on-trail-of-hemsky-sources-tell-peter-adler/
ReplyDeleteMore smoke for what we've all been speculating about.
ReplyDeleteSo I'll give Gillis that. It's still the Canucks whining about the refs.
ReplyDeleteThey have memorialized whining about the refs with a statue outside their building - what do you expect?
I'd never hitherto heard of Tony Gallagher of the Vancouver Province, but he's pretty incredible - makes the Edmonton MSM look fair. Here, for example, he legitimizes (through faithful mimicry) the standard Canuck fan line that the refs are for some reason biased against them. My favourite one, though, is Why the rush to crown Thomas most valuable player?
ReplyDeleteMy favourite bits (emphasis mine):
It would appear that, win or lose, the Boston Bruins goaltender is about to win the award and become one of a six-member club -- mostly goalies -- who have walked away with the award as most valuable player in the playoffs while playing for a losing team.
The Canucks victory is apparently such a foregone conclusion that even while explicitly acknowledging the possibility that they will lose, Gallagher is working on the assumption that they will win.
But if the Canucks win and Roberto Luongo has two, maybe three shutouts in the final, what is really the difference between Luongo and Thomas throughout the playoffs -- other than the fact it would be Lui hoisting the trophy?
Well, there's the fact that Thomas didn't get pulled from multiple Stanley Cup finals games after completely collapsing, and that there haven't been calls to start his backup over him in potentially deciding games. And Thomas put up a >.800 save percentage in away games. And his periodic ineptitude hasn't been one of the major subplots of the spring.
But yeah, other than that, pretty much entirely interchangeable.
(The first piece also has some good bits in the comments section, wherein Canucks fans praise Gallagher for "calling it like it is", and say things like "I'm so sick of the double standard boston fans have. Talk about whiners? How much play did the meaningless bite get? Or how much whining did they do when Horton got knocked out?")
LT - great find on the Nihlstorp story. However, you're wrong that he wasn't the starting goaltender for Farjestad in the playoffs. It looks like he and Salak split time, with Nihlstorp getting all 4 wins in the Championship final. An interesting goalie, indeed.
ReplyDeleteSpector's Rumours du Jour:
ReplyDeletehttp://spectorshockey.net/wordpress/?p=5818
Apparently talks between Columbus and Philly involved Moason and the 8th, but not Carter.
NYI looking to trade the 5th for a vet scoring forward to play with Tavares. Hmm...
NJD not moving their pick.
The #5 pick is considerably more valuable than #8 in this draft. It is the difference between a probable impact player and a maybe NHL player. Hopefully Tambellini is talking to NYI as well.
ReplyDeleteNot sure if they'd do it, but if you are in the Hemsky is too injury prone camp then Hemsky for the 5th starts to get a little interesting (8th doesn't seem enough to me). RNH/Huberdeau/Larsson are probably gone by then but a top guy will still be there. RNH+Couturier would be a great draft and you could finally move Gagner to the wing. It is also a draft where there might be surprises and a big name might drop to fifth if someone like Murphy goes very early.
ReplyDeleteAnd agree with Ashley, big gap between 8th and 5th; 8th you are left with the last player of the big 8 or maybe a choice of two. At 5 you're getting a close to sure-fire NHLer in this draft.
ReplyDeleteWow, I wonder how The Braintrust got to see Nihlstorp play... were they perhaps there scouting Adam Larsson... or was it Brodin (who got to play in the final while Klefbom sat. Hmmm.)?
ReplyDeleteLarsson, by the way, in that final 4-1 loss had the most shots on goal for Skelleftea and was +1. Not a bad final impression.
Have to think there's a reasonable chance one of the two big Dmen are still left at #5.
ReplyDeleteI'd rather trade for a guy with a few more developmental years under his belt, like Bogo, but there's a reasonable chance Larsson and Hamilton will be better in the long run.
SS,
ReplyDeleteDon't you know that Gallagher is a journalist?
Therefore his views are well researched, fair, and unbiased.
My favorite tin foil hat paragraph is this one:
Stated simply, the Bruins can virtually do anything to any Vancouver player with total impunity until after the game is won. At that point, they then get their fair share of penalties. Further, they can do anything to any Vancouver player after the whistle while it's still a game and nothing is called unless there is a flagrant retaliation by the Vancouver player. At that point both infractions are called. Boston of course gets lots of penalties late, with the game decided, to make it look like they might even be getting shafted in total calls. But that's a familiar NHL pattern.
That's some quality journalism right there.
From what I have heard Gallagher is not above giving it as bad to the Canucks as anyone else. I believe he has been described as an old-school journalist who enjoys poking hornet's nests (by Duhatschek, who I think has earned his quality rep).
ReplyDeleteThough I would agree that he is being unusually off-base with this article. Thomas has easily earned the MVP in this series. I don't even think it is close (though I do still think the Canucks win, even though I don't want them to).
Apparently I am going for the "most uses of the word though in a paragraph" award.
ReplyDeleteousne - mediocre Greek liquor
It's funny, in all references to Hemsky's play and especially this year's play, they talk about how good he was when he was healthy.
ReplyDeleteAs I understand it, he was putting up PPG on a horrid team with a torn labrum.
If he can mash in that kind of condition, he's stepped it up several notches.
Daniel Sedin promises the Cup.
ReplyDeleteJoe Namath style.
Wow. I don't think that team needed more pressure. Did he promise a Luongo shutout, too?
ReplyDeleteMy word verification is "rinks". Neat.
Over in the other locker room at TD Garden, someone asked Marchand why he hit Sedin. “Because I felt like it,” said Marchand, with a shrug. Was it something Sedin said?
ReplyDelete“No, he didn't say anything. He was just right there. He was just kind of taking it,” Marchand said...
Daniel Sedin promises the Cup.
ReplyDeleteJoe Namath style.
Let's hope it's more 'Daniel Alfredsson' style.
He was just kind of taking it.
ReplyDeleteNow now, maybe Daniel is just secretly Tyler Durden.
We'll know for sure if Henrik gets sticked in the chops and Daniel crumbles to the ice in a heap.
So Johnny Boychuk locked Raymond's head down, kept his body bent and then rammed his back into the boards and cracked his vertebrae.
ReplyDeleteWord is that there will be no suspension for Boychuk.
I guess fracturing other players' vertebrae and getting away with it is the Bruins' specialty...
Looks like Papa Campbell is alive and well working behind the scenes.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHaha. I was curious to check the play
ReplyDeleteThat wasn't dirty and useless?
C'Mon. You're almost as worst as the Nucks' fans now.
Here's my favourite comment from the Tim Thomas article.
ReplyDeleteListen Thomas wins the Conn Smythe even if Luongo gets a shutout tonight because most of the media is Eastern Centric.
It's very clear to see that, one simply needs to look at the bias coverage of the series.
Look at the treatment of the Rome hit vs. not even a peep about Peverly's 2 handed baseball swing at the back of Bieksa's leg in game #3 (that could have put Bieksa out of the game, and maybe longer) or lack of comparisons between Chara's hit on Pacharedy or Eager's boarding of Sedin or McGinn's rule 48 violation on Rome (that caused him to miss 2 games)
Look at "bitegate's" coverage and the mention of the Canucks as "divers" while NO coverage of the fact the Bruins "tough play" against the Canucks largely consists of hackign and slashing our best players (like the Sedins) with near impunity.
I never realized until this series how bad the bias really is.
Good grief. And Vancouver fans wonder why nobody outside of BC has embraced them.
Melan: I think the Bruins get away with a lot of shit. I don't think it's green on either side but damn.
ReplyDeleteIt's douchebags dressed in blue vs douchebags dressed in yellow.
When you intentionally embarass the refs with diving nonsense, it should come as no surprise that they are reluctant to blow the whistle in scrums when hacks and jabs are causing the Dys to fall down and wince in agony. You reap what you sew.
ReplyDeleteRe Boychuk: C'mon... that play happens in hockey almost every shift. Defensemen scrub the player on the boards. At most it could have been an interference call, but setting that standard would invoke about 20 more interference calls before the end of the 2nd period. It was just tough luck that Raymond went into the boards awkwardly and an angle that couldnt support Boychuks weight.
very fitting verificationword for these parts... mactist
Danny: Oh cmon. The puck wasn't even fucking near Raymond. There's no hockey play to do there.
ReplyDeleteBoychuk already got him away from the play. There's no damn reason to check him, let alone when the player's in a really bad position.
Look at the treatment of the Rome hit vs. not even a peep about Peverly's 2 handed baseball swing at the back of Bieksa's leg in game #3 (that could have put Bieksa out of the game, and maybe longer) or lack of comparisons between Chara's hit on Pacharedy or Eager's boarding of Sedin or McGinn's rule 48 violation on Rome (that caused him to miss 2 games)
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, the guy does have a point here. Not once have I ever seen anyone compare the Rome hit to Chara's hit on this Pacharedy character, whoever he is.
This probably doesnt support the big bad evil bruins narrative, but here's Kerry Frasers' take on the play. yes, the same Kerry Fraser that was an NHL referee longer than some people here have been alive.
ReplyDelete"We allow a defensive player to step up and make legal contact on an opponent that is about to receive the puck. In this case, the puck was within the acceptable range of Mason Raymond to allow for body contact from Boychuk. The contact Boychuk employed however, involved a reach and tie-up with his stick, which could be called either interference or hooking and worthy of a minor penalty. "
Three pro tryout contracts to replace the injured. for players from the kent apartments on cemetary road in agassiz, bc. I hear these young men have the kind of rough energy displayed by MR. Marchand and Boychuk in Boston.
ReplyDeleteSimiliar mentality and ratings baby.
Look at the treatment of the Rome hit vs. not even a peep about Peverly's 2 handed baseball swing at the back of Bieksa's leg in game #3 (that could have put Bieksa out of the game, and maybe longer) or lack of comparisons between Chara's hit on Pacharedy or Eager's boarding of Sedin or McGinn's rule 48 violation on Rome (that caused him to miss 2 games)
ReplyDeleteOr the hit on Peverly last nite,or Hansens 2 handed slash in game 3 on Bergeron(right before he scored Vans only goal)Or Bieksa twice jumping guys that don't fight,or Burrows roundhouse slash last nite.Blah,blah,blah.Crap is happening on both sides of the puck.It's a nasty series.
FPB: Or at least let the young men have a pre game charity game with Marchand, Boychuk, Chara, Thorton the day before for kids for cancer.
ReplyDeletethe league loves feel good stories like that.
ReplyDeleteDanny: That's not the problem. The problem is that he dragged him just up to where the boards are.
ReplyDeleteHe had already lost his balance, he was already out of the play, and the puck was nowhere near that. Boychuck didn't play hockey there. He played to hurt Raymond with his check, and nothing else.
And even if it didn't happen fast, or did boom, it was still dangerous. The essence of Boychuck's hit was to hurt Raymond, and it did.
''A match penalty shall be imposed on any player who deliberately attempts to injure or who deliberately injures an opponent in any manner.''
I think it fits the description, that Boychuck should have gotten a match penalty and suspended from game 7.
That exact same play happens numerous times in every game. You engage a player and scrub him out on the boards. It happens over and over and over again.
ReplyDeleteThere was no thrusting him into the boards, they coasted into them in slow motion.
Ray Ferraro has no reason to be biased, and he said it was barely an interefernce penalty at best. Bobby Mac said its not suspendable. Fraser said the same.
I guess if my Oilers were eliminated by the bruins and Chara decapitated one of our rookies, i'd have more ire and probably see it the way you do. But he didn't, and I don't.
It was a common hockey play with a terrible result.
Danny: Except they're not semi-crouched like that.
ReplyDeleteThere was no reason for that play to be, other than old time stupidity. If Raymond was checked or not would have made absolute 0 difference, and it was interference that lead to injury.
Danny: The NHL allows 0,5 seconds for ''finishing your check''. If you pause and play it's something like 2 seconds when Boychuck is done.
ReplyDeleteAnd no opinions will change the facts.
Have to agree with everyone else on the Raymond injury. That wasn't so much throwing check as tying up your man in the defensive zone and angling him off the play. Seen it dozens of times and at most it's an interference call. It was just unfortunate that Raymond got crouched and went into the boards at a bad angle.
ReplyDeleteIt's not like Raymond was bent over purposefully and pile driven into the end boards. I think some people are reading way too much into it.