Official Hockey discussion thread

Redden is definitely NOT worth that much. He's good, but not 6M good. I thank God for DVR, since that is what I'll do with the Pens game lol. Can't wait to see that one :D
 
Dude, if current events have taught us anything is that contracts don't mean squat. coaches signing 3-4 year deals get fired after 20 games, players on 4 year contracts get demoted and traded... so you never know.
 
Yeah, but it's the cap.  You have to play your expensive players, overpaid or not.  I think there is a huge backlash on the GMs coming when the cap contracts.  Some teams are gonna be losing picks all over the place...

Hehehe, I think that Brown's hit on Hudler last night was awesome, too.  Hudler had his head down.
 
That was a brutal hit. I don't think it was a dirty enough hit to get a 5er in the box. Fucking league must have money on a Detroit/Caps final.
Cap space is going to be absolutely critical, due to the fact it is supposed to come down next season and again in the 2010-11 season. The Rangers locked in 4 players they thought would be the core of a championship team. Drury, Gomez, Redden and Roszival all got 6+ million, 4+ year deals to lock them up for along time. They are sucking up about 40% of the availible cap room. The only guy I believe is worth it is Drury, because he is a proven big game player. I don't care what his detractors in New York say, 47 playoff goals with 18 of them being game winners is a stunning ratio. The guy just has a knack for scoring huge goals in huge games. Roszival I think is a better D man than Redden, but I believe he is only worth $4 million tops. Gomez is a solid player, but again he is getting overpaid. Getting some skill on the wings or even asking  one of them to goto the wing is absolutley critical for their terrible offense.  Player salaries are harder to rework, because the NHLPA and the ever popular "no movement" clauses. So these are the four guys that Glen Sather has bet the farm on. He just needs to find the right talent to compliment what he has. But the Rangers definitely need some help on the wings.
 
One of the advantages Montreal has in the offseason is that they have so few of their big UFAs signed that they get to see where the cap goes before they start writing cheques.  Obviously if the cap shrinks, players will be asking for less, since they will not get 6 mil for a medium-skill defenseman.  Some will not ask less, but they will go unsigned.  Marian Hossa won't be making 8 mil this year, etc.

However, I fully expect a lot of teams to be surrendering picks for being over the cap.  Too many teams are going to be.  There's just no way around it when you are Detroit or Pittsburgh, unless you clear players hard.  But the teams were all aware this might happen, they just banked on the cap expanding infinitely.
 
Unfortunately, I think the second tier guys are going to be squeezed even harder by a lower cap. A lower end, top six foward is'nt going to be able to get 4 million. They might not even to be able to get 3. The elite players are still going to get their 5+ million, because the GM's will squeeze those second tier guys to take less. Alot of those guys I think will bail to Russia.
Yeah LC, I think there won't be alot of returning UFAs to Montreal, giving the way alot of them played in a crucial contract negotiating season, plus it being the Big Centennial season. But who do you think they will keep and who do you think will be let go? 
 
Koivu and Komisarek, for sure.  They're the big ones the team needs.  Everyone else is negotiable as far as Gainey is concerned.  Kovalev is a "want" back, but at a cheaper price, same with Tanguay.  Beyond that....
 
David St Hubbins said:
I don't think NBC should let Mike Emerick do the play by play. I fell asleep during the first OT in the Ducks/Wings.
Click to expand...

Me too! but only because I stayed up until 4 in the morning watching the DVRed pens vs. caps game (no, I couldn't wait). I'm glad it went to triple OT if not I would have missed Marchant's goal lol
 
LooseCannon said:
Markus Naslund has announced his retirement at age 35.
Click to expand...
And because he signed with New York before he turned 35, the Rangers don't have to take the Cap Hit for next season.

Cam Ward was absolutely brilliant in yesterday's 3-0 win over the Bruins. Varlamov was pretty impressive too tonight, on that 5 on 3 PP . Ovie and Sid both with hat ticks? That is sick!! This is one great series.
 
pens vs Caps has been amazing, albeit very frustrating. The pens dominate 5 on 5, but can't capitalize on it. They have been the better team, but obviously the results don't show that... grrr. KAAAAAAAAHN! *ahem*... I mean, VARLAMOOOOOOOV!
 
TSN is reporting that the Phoenix Coyotes are filing Chapt 11 bankruptcy protection. They also report that the team is being put up for sale and that the NHL has floated the team a loan so it could meet its payroll. Interested buyer is BlackBerry owner Jim Balsillie has offered $215 million for the team and wants to relocate the team to southern Ontario. Sounds like it can go to either Kitchner or Hamilton. How much of a stake does Gretzky hold?
 
Doesn't matter, as he's not majority.  Regardless, the NHL has stepped in and is going to be absorbing the team it looks like.  I'd be shocked if they allow Baisille to buy the team and move it to Canada.  Bettman doesn't want to admit that he has let teams move to failed locations.  As far as I'm concerned, Hamilton could sustain a team.  Hell, put it back in Winnipeg.
 
All the official NHL news is that the team will not relocate. My guess is not yet. I find it ridiculous to move existing, successful teams (Hartford, Quebec) instead of aiming new expansion teams that are more likely to move due to poor attendance and/or record... (Nashville)
 
I don't know how much truth there is to this rumor, but James Moye, who is the majority owner of the Coyotes, tired to cut a backroom deal with Jim Baisillie. According to the rumor,  it was Baisille who suggested that Moye file for Bankruptcy before he put the team up for sale. Because Moye  filed and has been relieved of operating the team by the NHL, there are all kinds of questions about the operating costs of the team, including the players' salaries. Because the Coyotes have filed bankruptcy, there is also the question of the validity of the contracts and if the Coyotes even have to honor them, because the players could be considered creditors. This was all brought up by In The Slot on XM by Phil Esposito and Bill Clement.
 
Yeah, I figured as much.  I keep kicking myself when I see what Jim is doing - that he really wants to own a team, but he keeps trying to weasel in on the action, and it's really fucking him.  I think the NHL is retarded to not give him a team - he has unlimited funds.  Al Strachan (idiot) was saying that it's a bad idea to move the Coyotes because it removes hockey fans...to which I said...it removes all 8000 hockey fans in Phoenix in favour of the 10 million people in the Southern Ontario area?  I thought the point was to sell tickets.
 
But there are 3 franchises that a team in the Southern Ontario  area would cut into, Detroit, Ottawa , Toronto and Buffalo. Also Bettman is determined to keep the team in the Phoenix Metro area, even though there is virtually no fan base. There are greater forces here at work, more than any of us know. 
 
Buffalo is a team that can move. NY doesn't need three teams and it is the only one of the three that hasn't won the cup, so no real 'tradition' will be uprooted.
 
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