Episode 0102: The All-Star Weekend, Chiarelli Relieved of Duty, Josh Gorges retires, Eastern & Western Conference Host Created Teams, Twitter Polls and so Much More!

Show number 102 brings with it the upcoming anniversary of the Two Man Forecheck.  Two years in and we are still having fun!

With that, we welcome everyone to our weekly discussion which we open with our memory from 2 years of recording.  This plunges us deeper into a conversation about the coaching, specifically goaltending, of the Flyers.  Mike waxes poetic about the captaincy of Blake Wheeler for the Winnipeg Jets.

The Edmonton Oilers have relieved Peter Chiarelli of his G.M. duties and not too soon we feel.  He has not identified any direction for the team, and they seem to be adrift in a sea of mediocrity.  Yes, they made the playoffs two years ago, but haven’t really made any inroads toward staying a playoff contender.

Josh Gorges played 13 seasons in the NHL, most with the Canadiens.  He also played 4 seasons with the Buffalo Sabres but Jason Botteril did not offer him a contract at the end of last season.  As he didn’t catch on anywhere else, he officially announced his retirement on January 14^th.  We at the Two Man Forecheck wish him well in all his future endeavors and will miss a defensive defenseman that played with heart, grit and determination, never taking a night or a shift off.  Thank you, Josh.

Kendall Coyne and Brianna Decker were involved with NHL All Star weekend festivities, but only Coyne was officially competing during the skills competition.  Brianna was paid the $25,000 but was not officially part of the passing skill.

Overall talk about the All-Star Weekend didn’t last too long, but some of the individuals were mentioned, John Carlson in particular as it was his first all-star selection (hard to believe).  We also came up with some events to add, tell us what you think should be added to the all-star weekend.

We finally move on to our comparison of Eastern and Western Conference teams we created (big Thank you to Capfriendly) from the bottom three teams from each conference.  The teams had to comply with current cap restraints and be comprised of players from Detroit, Philly and Ottawa (East) as well as Chicago, St. Louis and L.A. (West).  Chris broke the cap rule by not getting to the cap floor with his Eastern Conference team.  Most of the players were the same on both squads, but some differences appeared, and some issues came to light such as the lack of left-wing players that were worthy of our choices in the East.

Our Twitter poll from last week revolved around the most surprising team from the first half of the season.  The results were to be expected, with the Islanders garnering the most votes, but Buffalo should have been given serious consideration in our opinion, although they have hit a rough patch.

We have two Twitter Polls this week, one related to our teams, which can be found at @theoffwing, and a second poll regarding women playing in the NHL at what position, to be found at @pucksage.

We hope you enjoy this show and vote in our polls.  Thank you for two years of listening, we hope you stay with us and…Enjoy the show!