Official Hockey discussion thread

I've been an Athletic subscriber for 3 years now, ever since Down Goes Brown joined, and it's an awesome website. I read it at least every second day, and always make time for my favourite author. The Toews interview was grand, and it sounds like he got really badly fucked up by his body, some sort of autoimmune disease + long haul COVID? Man, I can't believe he's even considering coming back. What a champ.
 
LooseCannon said:
I've been an Athletic subscriber for 3 years now, ever since Down Goes Brown joined, and it's an awesome website. I read it at least every second day, and always make time for my favourite author. The Toews interview was grand, and it sounds like he got really badly fucked up by his body, some sort of autoimmune disease + long haul COVID? Man, I can't believe he's even considering coming back. What a champ.
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Yeah, obviously I am a big fan of his and have watched him play tons and tons of games. Will be great to see him back on the ice and hopefully he is able to get this under control

For the Athletic, I read the Bears/Cubs/Hawks and major stories/league writers for those leagues every morning. Then around lunch time, I pick a few divisions and scan through those teams for stories I find interesting. They have a spectacular collection of writers. My favorite Hawks, Cubs, and Bears writers are all on the site and I have discovered some really good ones for other teams. Dan Connely who writes about the Baltimore Orioles (a team I could care less about) has me reading about them pretty often for example. I just like the way we writes
 
This should be an interesting off season with the flat cap, an expansion team, some big name FAs, and how various trades shake out.

Congrats to Tampa, back to back is no easy feat nowadays
 
bearfan said:
Congrats to Tampa, back to back is no easy feat nowadays
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It isn't, BUUUUT, they were two shortened seasons. We normally only get one half lock-out season like every 7 years, but two? Regardless the reason?

Tampa winning or not, these past two seasons were.... interesting, mostly downers. Let's see how the next season shakes up. As you pointed out, I am much more interested on how the cap, trades and draft shake out.
 
Getting back to a full season with crowds and all that stuff will be great next year. But bottom line is every time played under similar conditions and I do not think it really tarnishes what they did. They have a damned good team.
 
Indeed. I was discussing it with a friend of mine. I don't like them. Putting aside the non-traditional market BS or their shitty ice surface (like the Panther's), I just don't like them. Can't find myself rooting for them as a team AND there's not one player I like. When they won in... 04? I liked Lecavalier, St. Louis, Khabibulin, etc. One could argue Stamkos is their charismatic leader, but injuries have really done him in, dude's a shadow. To what my friend said, "they're a machine, an unthinking, well-oiled, crushing machine." Found it a very apt description. Question is, how long can they maintain said machine.
 
This is not sour grapes: Tampa had a lot of help from Kucherov being on LTIR the whole year. It allowed them to ice a team that, uh, was well above the cap, and that well above the cap includes one of the three or four best players in the world. However, the Tampa group is easily the best team that's played hockey during the cap era - they obliterated the league in the regular season three seasons ago and then one the most recent two Cups. Hell of a team built by Yzerman and BriseBois and they deserve credit.

Now, they get to handle the expansion draft and the cap, and see if they can make it a threepeat.
 
Onhell said:
Indeed. I was discussing it with a friend of mine. I don't like them. Putting aside the non-traditional market BS or their shitty ice surface (like the Panther's), I just don't like them. Can't find myself rooting for them as a team AND there's not one player I like. When they won in... 04? I liked Lecavalier, St. Louis, Khabibulin, etc. One could argue Stamkos is their charismatic leader, but injuries have really done him in, dude's a shadow. To what my friend said, "they're a machine, an unthinking, well-oiled, crushing machine." Found it a very apt description. Question is, how long can they maintain said machine.
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I really do not like them either ... but you have to appreciate they way they play and having a brick wall in net helps too. Though now that I think about it, I do like Hedman
 
LooseCannon said:
This is not sour grapes: Tampa had a lot of help from Kucherov being on LTIR the whole year. It allowed them to ice a team that, uh, was well above the cap, and that well above the cap includes one of the three or four best players in the world. However, the Tampa group is easily the best team that's played hockey during the cap era - they obliterated the league in the regular season three seasons ago and then one the most recent two Cups. Hell of a team built by Yzerman and BriseBois and they deserve credit.

Now, they get to handle the expansion draft and the cap, and see if they can make it a threepeat.
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I highly doubt we see a threepeat due to the cap ... they will still have a ton of high end talent, but much less depth on the bottom lines
 
...and then there were two

Keith traded to Edmonton for Jones, a conditional 3rd rounder and Chicago retains $0 in salary.

It really sucks to see him go, but at a hockey level, this was a brilliant trade for the Hawks. Retaining 0 salary, being able to protect another D-man from the draft (Keith had a NMC), and getting $5.5M/year for 2 years in cap relief.

I think playing less minutes in a second pairing will help Keith, but I am not really getting why Edmonton did this, I think they are more than him away from competing for a Cup and now they have to expose 1 more player in the draft, Keith still has his NMC and must be protected.
 
Keith is cooked and shouldn't be paying professional hockey anymore, and they fleeced Edmonton aggressively into giving them anything for this. Great move by Stan Bowman.
 
LooseCannon said:
Keith is cooked and shouldn't be paying professional hockey anymore, and they fleeced Edmonton aggressively into giving them anything for this. Great move by Stan Bowman.
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I think Keith might bounce back a bit under different circumstances ... he played way too many minutes he played last year. That said, the Oilers were bidding against themselves. Keith requested a trade to the Pacific Northwest, which is really 4 teams. Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, and Seattle. Vancouver already has cap problems, I do not think Calgary was overly interested, Seattle maybe .. but who knows. My only guess is Edmonton valued his experience and I think he will be a help to the younger d-men. If they signed him as a FA for a 1 year $2M contract .. maybe. if it was trading Neal for Keith pretty much straight up, sure. .. but taking on that cap hit and giving up a middle-prospect with some NHL experience and a pick makes no sense.

All I know this is twice the Hawks have hosed over Edmonton in 3 years (Manning and now Keith)
 
I mean turning Keith into anything was a huge win for the Hawks. But yeah, maybe he bounces back in sheltered minutes (the kind of minutes you should not be paying $5.5 million for)
 
LooseCannon said:
I mean turning Keith into anything was a huge win for the Hawks. But yeah, maybe he bounces back in sheltered minutes (the kind of minutes you should not be paying $5.5 million for)
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He did 23 1/2 minutes last year, which is insane for a 37 year old and to Keith's credit he was able to gut that out
 
LooseCannon said:
Apparently they got a prospect back too? God, Holland, what is wrong with you.
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I think the prospect is so so and a little old (24) but it is Seth Jones' brother. Read into that what you will. Plus a 3rd round pick next year

Homestly with no retention I would have been with a bag of pucks coming back.

In additon the Hawks only have 4 worthwhile eligible defenseman worth protecting. Now they can protect 3 of the 4. Instead of Keith and 2 of the 4. Edmonton has to protect Keith because of his NMC
 
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