T1B

...for Cujo?

Tampa Bay or bust?

Penguins land Thibault in deal with Chicago

TSN.ca Staff

8/10/2005 12:04:54 PM

Spurned by Sean Burke on Tuesday, the Pittsburgh Penguins responded by acquiring goaltender Jocelyn Thibault from the Chicago Blackhawks Wednesday in exchange for a fourth round pick in the 2006 Entry Draft.

Burke was considering an offer from the Penguins, but signed instead with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Thibault, 30, is a restricted free agent.

He is also a veteran of 536 NHL games with a record of 227-217-68. He is coming off hip surgery that was to fix a problem that cost him 60 games in the 2003-2004 season.

The trade is the third for Thibault. He was part of the package that the Montreal Canadiens received in the Patrick Roy deal in 1995. In 1999, he was traded to Chicago in a deal that brought Jeff Hackett, Eric Weinrich and Alain Nasreddine to Montreal.

Thibault became expendable earlier in the week when the Blackhawks signed free agent goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin.

Isn't Vancouver looking for an upgrade from Cloutier? I think the Lightning and the Canucks are the only teams without #1 goalies right now.

Shoalzie wrote:Isn't Vancouver looking for an upgrade from Cloutier? I think the Lightning and the Canucks are the only teams without #1 goalies right now.

I've mentioned this in response to one of your other posts, but no, Vancouver isn't looking for another goalie. They truly believe in Cloutier as a #1 goalie.

That, and they're almost out of cap space.

JD wrote:

Shoalzie wrote:Isn't Vancouver looking for an upgrade from Cloutier? I think the Lightning and the Canucks are the only teams without #1 goalies right now.

I've mentioned this in response to one of your other posts, but no, Vancouver isn't looking for another goalie. They truly believe in Cloutier as a #1 goalie.

That, and they're almost out of cap space.

They want to keep Cloutier? It's their funeral...

Shoalzie wrote:

JD wrote:

Shoalzie wrote:Isn't Vancouver looking for an upgrade from Cloutier? I think the Lightning and the Canucks are the only teams without #1 goalies right now.

I've mentioned this in response to one of your other posts, but no, Vancouver isn't looking for another goalie. They truly believe in Cloutier as a #1 goalie.

That, and they're almost out of cap space.

They want to keep Cloutier? It's their funeral...

Yup. That's the way I see it too. Cloutier is far from a terrible option, but if you want to spend $20M on two forwards and a defenseman, you've gotta cheap out in other areas.

Unfortunately for Canucks fans, Dave Nonis hasn't figured out that goaltender is probably the most important position.

Dave Nonis is doing an average job at best..... but that's to be expected because he had hardly any cap room after re-signing Naslund. He obviously thinks the Canucks can get by with Dan Cloutier because he signed him to a contract today. As a Canuck fan I'm first to admit that Cloutier is going to get the Canucks absolutely nowhere. I mean, he has his moments of brilliance but never at the right times. Oh well, here comes another period of mediocrity for the Canucks unless there's some huge surprises in terms of young blueliners waiting in the wings because Diddling Dave doesn't seem to have many options in terms of signing d-men to fill the holes left by Sopel and Malik. Then again, I won't be around to experience it, I'll be laughing at all the tards in Leafland as I'm moving to Ontario in 3 weeks.

Cujos days as an elite goalie are over. hes been figured out.

go get your knife wrote:Cujos days as an elite goalie are over. hes been figured out.

Don't tell me you've just figured that out!

Smoked Meat wrote:

go get your knife wrote:Cujos days as an elite goalie are over. hes been figured out.

Don't tell me you've just figured that out!

oh no.
I figured that out in Toronto in about 1999. People are just now starting to agree with me more and more.

I disagree...

CuJo has some life in him it was his teams that let him down.

He couldn't live up to the expectations in TO because leaf fans expected to win a cup with a team that was no where being a contender.

He didn't win in Detroit and that was because Detroit couldn't score in the '03 or '04 Playoffs.

Joey Moss wrote:I disagree...

CuJo has some life in him it was his teams that let him down.

He couldn't live up to the expectations in TO because leaf fans expected to win a cup with a team that was no where being a contender.

He didn't win in Detroit and that was because Detroit couldn't score in the '03 or '04 Playoffs.

wrong.
He couldnt live up to expectations in Toronto because his game started to go south after his first year there. So he did what almost every other goalie who starts to suck does, gets some bigger pads with massive thigh rises and squared off pants to try to compensate for his slowly disappearing speed.

And as for Detroit, regardless of how much they scored, Joseph was never solid in net for them. It didnt take too long for the Wings to figure it out, and now they are finally going to give Manny what hes been waiting for. I mean the man was drafted by the frickin Whalers, and has been arguably the best backup in the NHL for years.

Cujo is a good goalie, but hes almost strictly a read a react goalie. It doesnt take long for any forward worth their contract to figure these guys out, and im suprised Joseph has been around for this long even.

I think he will probably end up in Phoenix, based on the process of elimintation. Unless Wayne thinks Brian Boucher can handle it, which is doubtful.

Joseph deserved better for how well he played in the '03-04 playoffs and he didn't play all that poorly against Anaheim the year before. The fact is, the guy on the other end was just that much better. The Wings were bounced by the eventual Western Conference champions...that has to mean something. Joseph probably would've been back with the Wings if it wasn't for his price tag and the fact they just don't have the money to spend on him.

He could be a good pickup for Phoenix but I would've given Boucher the job considering they might not have the money to spend on a topflight goalie. If he ends up with the Coyotes, you have to wonder what happens with the Lightning. The only free agent options after Joseph is Cechmanek, Dunham, Potvin, Dafoe, Kidd, and Tugnutt. Out of those guys, I would desperately look for a goalie to trade for if I was Jay Feaster. Not a good situation for the defending champs. They lose their goalie and two of the regular defensemen (Lukowich and Cullimore). They still should be a strong team in the East but they've fallen behind Philadelphia and Ottawa at the very least.

I think we've seen the last of Potvin, Dafoe, Kidd, and Tugnutt in the NHL. I highly doubt any clubs would even take these guys as backups at this stage.

Hapday wrote:I think we've seen the last of Potvin, Dafoe, Kidd, and Tugnutt in the NHL. I highly doubt any clubs would even take these guys as backups at this stage.

Kidd had already signed to play over in Europe this coming season.
Potvin and Tugnutt are probably done given their age
Dafoe... someone will give him another shot

Otis wrote:

Hapday wrote: Dafoe... someone will give him another shot

I highly doubt this. Dafoe hasnt done a damn thing but pull his groin 30 times since he left Ottawa. Useless.

PS-looks like Cujo is a Coyote. whoop dee do.

go get your knife wrote: I highly doubt this. Dafoe hasnt done a damn thing but pull his groin 30 times since he left Ottawa. Useless.

Dafoe played for Ottawa? :?

Hapday wrote:

go get your knife wrote: I highly doubt this. Dafoe hasnt done a damn thing but pull his groin 30 times since he left Ottawa. Useless.

Dafoe played for Ottawa? :?

Oops, I mixed him up with with Rhodes because they both got injured while on Atlanta.