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So Kenny just needs a media stooge to say everything out loud that he doesn't want to get in trouble for? How about one for Babcock to rip the officials after games too? As long as they're not on the payroll we're all good right? esteef

The problem with the blank check is, salaries are going to skyocket because of it! There is no way Parise deserves more money that Crosby (as much as I hate him) and that is the bottom line...if Crosby gets $9M, Parise is around $7M for value, $8M should be tops, VERY VERY tops! I hope Holland doesn't offer Parise a blank check, there has to be a line drawn somewhere or next you'll see Hudler asking for $6M...and the Abby's of the world will be demanding and getting $5M...if it comes down to Leopold giving Parise a blank check to put $10M on, then you can have him Minny, then in 5 years (with no Cups still) you'll be screaming for a trade! Holland, just say yes to Parise, but NO to a blank check...$8M TOPS...

Well, if Dom is looking for a challenge, I can think of little more challenging than backstopping the Leafs to a Stanley Cup victory.

Congrats to HockeyCrazy3033 for winning the 2012 LGW Playoff Picks Game. The bonus points for each series prediction gave HC the 2 points she needed to edge hooon out by 1 point in the final round. Thanks to all of you that played, and please feel free to post any/all suggestions for next years' version within this thread. ROUND 4 Rank, Player, Total Points 1 HockeyCrazy3033 85 2 hooon 84 3 Dirty Dangle 82 4 Vladifan 79 5 Nevermind 70 6 germanwing 67 7 Stick 64 8 Hockey13Playa 63 9 edicius 61 10 GoWings1905 60 11 The Edge 59 12 Zohan Franzen 58 13 Norwegian Red Wing 57 14 NightFall 55 15 NeverForgetMac25 53 15 SaCkaveli20 53 17 55fan 52 17 Greatness=PavelDatsyuk 52 19 zetterisbetter 50 20 atodaso 48 21 Dano33 47 22 BlazeYoungBlood 45 23 Jeff6851 44 24 Wurzel 42 25 sibiriak 40 26 8 Legged RedWing 37 27 evilzyme 35 27 shaeb30 35 27 Namingway 35 30 Wingsequallife13 34 31 Din758 33 31 T-Ruff 33 33 wingslogo19 31 34 Donohue75 30 34 syntax 30 36 CrimsonFlame 29 37 Detroit # 1 Fan 27 37 servo 27 39 Cevari 26 40 Skiminok 24 40 vladdy16 24 40 Motown4013 24 43 Wings_Dynasty 23 43 FinWing 23 43 Ray1905 23 43 Tim.D 23 43 Dabura 23 43 Ram 23 49 P. Marlowe 22 49 bakerbert 22 49 HateTheDrake! 22 49 russianswede919293 22 49 marcaractac 22 49 IceSurfer 22 55 bkeck 21 55 Frozen-Man 21 57 WorkingOvertime 20 58 Gordie Howe hat trick 19 58 Z and D for the C 19 60 dat's sick 18 61 Grim 17 62 Firehawk 16 62 dirtydangles 16 62 DatsyukDangles 16 62 UKWING 16 62 Jersey Wing 16 67 SpiritFan 15 67 Zetterling 15 67 BMONEY 15 70 MulesWillFly93 14 71 Echolalia 12 72 Chris Avram 11

And I don't have a big problem with that. Would it be nice if ticket prices were more reasonable? Absolutely. But the Wings were hemorrhaging money when he bought them, and he invested millions of his own $ to get the Wings where they are today. It's time to reap the rewards of his faith, effort and open checkbook as far as I'm concerned. After all, hockey is a business, not just entertainment, as I am so often reminded here. Also, word on the street is he is willing to foot the majority of the bill, if not all, for a new arena, which many here have been begging for for a long time. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm not buying enough Little Caesar's to help him out with that.

Yes, I do remember well when Fedorov went to Anaheim and Babcock called Bowman asking WTF is up with Fedorov, and how does he get him motivated....I could see that happening with Semin too...

Semin isn't known for his work ethics. He's known to take weeks off. That won't fly well with Babcock. I don't think Semin and Babcock would get along too well... especially if Semin becomes a disgruntled locker room cancer.

If the comments reported were actually made by Leipold, then Bettman could decide it's tampering. While we all know the needs and cap space of different teams, and can assume who they'll be interested in, saying you'll match/beat any offer goes a lot farther. Too far, IMO. Main problem is there isn't likely any way to prove he really said it, unless he was dumb enough to mention Parise's name on tape/email/etc.

I had dinner with Mr. I the other night and he said that no one was going to outbid the Wild....except the Red Wings... ...ya, me and Mr Istanbul are pretty good friends...I also heard that the Red Wings plummer said that they were going to sign him too. I am tired of all this hearsay, lets do something! Deal for his rights Minny if you want to get first crack at him, come on Leopold, call up your buddy centcougar and get a deal done, he can recommend a few prospects that you could deal, he knows all about them... ...right now, there are 29 (no Rangers) teams thinking they have a shot at Parise, so who the f*** cares who said what, let your actions to the talking. If he signs in Minny then great, his mistake, but at least it'll be over. Guarantee one thing come July 1st, there are 29 groups of fans that when he signs, one of those groups are going to say, "See, I told you he was coming here!" Let's hope it's Detroit, but if it isn't, whoopee-tee-doo! Flashback to 2001, June 30th. Jeremy Roenick agrees to a huge deal with the Flyers, he later says that Detroit offered him the same exact deal and he chose Philly because he felt that they had a better shot and winning sooner and more...Detroit settled for Robitaille and Hull. He will tell you himself, looking back that was a huge mistake especially had he known Detroit was going to deal for Hasek. Hindsight is 20/20, but JR is without a Cup forever... I say, lets just get it done, whoever wants him the most, make the deal today, trade for his rights. Hey Minny, show us what you got...

Good point. Seeing as how he was having dinner with the Wild owner when the comments were allegedly made though, they obviously have a relationship. shady, but I guess not technically against the rules. Maybe someone should have dinner with Mr. I and let slip the terms the Wings are preparing to offer Parise.

I'm pretty sure part of it is because hockey teams are a type of business. Legally, when they are doing the paperwork, they are relocating the business rather than scrapping it and starting a new one. Plus they tend to keep many of their employees, coaches, GMs, players, during the move, so it makes more sense that way. And when you cite stats, the record for that particular business stands since before the move. After all, the make up of their roster after the move is a reflection of the business decisions of that team several years beforehand. This is much different than an expansion team who is starting fresh. One measure of a good hockey organization is how quickly they get to a cup since inception. That's why prior stats and decisions are considered.

i am not pro hudler by any means, especially if he wants too much money. but the dude was a great contributor last year. only 20 forwards in the entire league scored more even strength goals than he did. http://www.nhl.com/ice/playerstats.htm?fetchKey=20122ALLFAFALL&sort=evenStrengthGoals&viewName=goals to me that is a VERY important stat. even strength scoring is where you really make a difference. sure hudler has his flaws, but so does every single other potential replacement. i would love to see parise signed as his replacement. it would be sweet. but its not a likely scenario. so if it doesn't happen i would welcome hudler back at a moderate salary increase.

Come Sail Away -Styx (Too obvious?)

Thanks, Mac Congrats to the Lovely Reem

We average >3 every year

I don't see Parise or Suter getting the C. You have to earn that s***, especially here.

Of the North American sports, its obviously a toss-up between the NFL and NHL. Don't forget the inclement weather that some of those playoff games are played in.....brrrrr! Overall though, I think it would be hard to top the Tour De France. 21 stages in 23 days, 150km+ in the saddle everyday, in baking heat and freezing rain, up the sides of enormous mountains, then down the other side at 50, 60, 70mph with no protection. Broken collarbones are to professional cyclists what missing teeth are to hockey players.

For anyone curious about some more accurate numbers for the finances of the Jets: http://www.forbes.com/teams/winnipeg-jets/ 24th most valuable team in the league 71m revenue -5.2m profit 43m in player expenses

Crosby actually scored over 300 points in those 121 games. Obviously that's rare, especially as he was only 16 and 17 years old, and is more than enough reason to bring him straight to the NHL. Even if it's the Q. You can't even compare Juniors to the NCAA. Look at the amount of games that kids get to play in a season in the NCAA. I hate that. You play more games in a season playing minor hockey. I think that's one of the reasons why kids that come straight from the NCAA end up spending more time in the AHL. It's not that they aren't skilled enough or whatever, I just don't think that they are ready for the grind. Kids from the CHL come from a 65 game season and playoffs. They're used to playing lots of games. McDonagh, Gardiner and Gilroy never spent their entire first season in the NHL. They all got sent down at one point. And look at Gilroy now? He's a joke. More and more kids are leaving college to head to the CHL. Probably for a good reason.

Brendan Smith played two years of AHL hockey and competed for his spot in two Red Wings training camps. Schultz didn't. Next.

Fair enough, I didn't put it in the post... because it is in the link. Shame on me for that. I didn't rewrite the article in my post. HOWEVER... I DID suggest Holland do the same thing and used Hasek as proxy illustrating the SAME situation. I guess I figured you would read the source and then infer I read it as well having linked it and citing it as inspiration for my hypothetical. I guess that is asking a lot, and I should be more clear. What isn't fair is the comparison with a journalist was made to illustrate what if a journalist made such hearsay. If someone tampers with a journalist they can deny it all the same, and the league would investigate. That is ALL I am asking for... both could deny it and there would be consequences for both.

Doesn't anyone ever read? Where exactly in your original post do you "clearly state it was second hand"? In fact, in the bolded piece above, you stated that "The Wild owner just let it leak out". No, the entire story is about Lou Nanne, who has absolutely no affiliation with the Wild & is not a journalist, taking the story to the press. By saying "the owner leaked it" you either had to be there to hear the conversation or you're making a "wild" assumption. Unless the NHL has proof, i.e. they heard Leipold tell Nanne to go to the press with the info OR if Leipold himself had made those comments in public or to a member of the press, they're not going to do anything. There's absolutely no evidence that Leipold wanted that in the press, again just assumptions. Bottom line, the NHL isn't going to start handing out fines & taking draft picks away on assumptions. And btw the Nanne situation in no way, shape, or form would compare to Holland going out to dinner with an Ashar Khan, who is a journalist, and dropping information about the who's & how much's they're going after as UFAs. There is a much much greater expectation of conversations being private when had among friends when compared to being had with journalists either on or off the record. All it is at this point is hearsay... {heer-say} Noun 1. unverified, unofficial information gained or acquired from another & not part of one's direct knowledge 2. an item of idle or unverified information or gossip; rumor Until it is verified, as in Leipold or Fletcher confirm the conversation went like that, it is 100% NOT tampering & nothing will ever come of it.

Right. Let's average <2 goals/game ext year.

I agree. Plus, at 6'1 and 210 lbs. Semin is ALWAYS going to be harder to play against than Huds. Also, how much of Semin's under performance was himself, and how much of it was Washington's mismanagement. I've said before and I'll say again, Bruce Boudreau was a terrible coach for young players because he's not the type of guy that forces players to work within a system to achieve results. As a result Washington squandered one of the most talented rosters in hockey year after year after year. Get Semin onto a team where he's expected to do a particular job and is held accountable, and I believe he'll be just like the long list of players who have learned how to play a full game in Detroit. Not too long ago Dan Cleary was accused of taking shifts off and not playing defense, so was Bertuzzi, and Hossa. They all did a complete turn around once they came here. No reason to believe Semin couldn't do the same. I consider it a reclamation project, and one that could really pay off, if the reports are true and Semin would consider a pay cut to play here. Obviously there are question marks with the guy, and he's no guarantee, but he might well be worth the gamble if a more consistently proven scoring winger (Parise) can't be acquired. Edit: Sniper much?

Fair enough, I didn't put it in the post... because it is in the link. Shame on me for that. I didn't rewrite the article in my post. HOWEVER... I DID suggest Holland do the same thing and used Hasek as proxy illustrating the SAME situation. I guess I figured you would read the source and then infer I read it as well having linked it and citing it as inspiration for my hypothetical. I guess that is asking a lot, and I should be more clear. I don't care if it is hearsay, it has the same effect. The rules say any means, public or private, any medium. Is there anyone who is a lawyer? Let's just subpoena both of them and demand they say under oath if they had dinner together. Then if they lie we can have a perjury trial that lasts a decade. You know, like baseball.