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Was totally unprepared for Lidstrom's retirement. Shouldn't have had to jump through hoops for Suter in the first place.

I still believe he did all he could reasonably do to address the issues the Wings' roster has, while not crippling other aspects of our organization, whether that be depth, finances, future, etc.

Get rid of Instigator rule. esteef

Had a long response typed up that was probably entirely too personal. Moral of the story for me is that yes, I get being young and dumb--I once firmly fell into that category and made some monumentally bad decisions--BUT sanctimonious or not, there is a lot at stake when someone makes the decision to drink and drive. The fact that this is the kid's second go round with this situation is unfortunate. Some people don't get to screw up a second time.

Ya, get in your pen cattle. How dare you have an opinion on your boss not letting you make a living. You are a product and not a person. You are under contract, that needs to be respected along with the man who signed it. --PFFFFT-- Sounds like the only crying is from the turncoats on these boards and the PR boys running TSN right now. A two week break was proposed, how is that negotiating??? Ian spoke up and threw Bettman under the bus, saying what all of us have said or thought at one point. And what happened??? They got their asses back to the table, way to go and thank you Mr. White.

everyone is going to fall on one side of the other for the most part. i just wanna watch hockey

True, true. What I think the problem is, is certain people on BOTH sides of the arguement in this thread are completely ignoring the specifics of the actual CBA proposals and have taken either a hardline pro-league or pro-players stance based 100% on their political views regarding unions, and nothing else.

I know that shop.nhl.com sells all kinds of merchandise with the names of players on the back. I don't recall ever seeing an "Official Gary Bettman Three-piece Suit" being for sale.

Drunk/impaired driving is wrong, make no doubt about it. But people get on their high horse about this issue like none other, when virtually EVERY person who has ever drank at a bar and then driven home has probably broken DWI laws to some degree. And if you don't drink, but use your smartphone while driving every once in awhile, don't try to tell me you're any better than a drunk driver, either. Sheahan did a bad thing, and the law will punish him for it to the extent sorted out by the system. If it happens again, we can start to talk about a pattern. But the way people "discard" people with a DWI as if they must be "alcoholics" bothers me, even if the underlying offense IS wrong. You don't have be an alcoholic or chronic screw-up to make a mistake.

I still don't understand the Holland hate. It's not like the man can force the hand of free agents. He tried his best, and obviously put in some damn effort while doing so. He was in talks with numerous different agents, traveled to go visit them, and in the end they just didn't choose him. If anything, this off-season made me smile because he was so aggressive compared to previous seasons.

Holland did the best he could this summer. Can't fault him for Suter choosing to play elsewhere. My complaint will always be with Holland's lack of action in the years leading up to this off-season. Rafalski was a surprise retirement, but everyone knew Nick's days were dwindling and Stu was going back to California.

Man, the level of vinegary Summer's Eve in this thread is astounding. Acting like Gary Bettman (Buttman Midget hurr hurr hurr) is the sole cause of this lockout is so stupid as to border on mental disability. Even Ryan Lambert admits that Bettman has been good for the game, and hasn't ruined everything, Is Bettman (Troll Dwarf idiot cancer durr durr durr) doing a great job in selling the lockout? No. Is the Players' Bettman doing a good job with the PR war? Absolutely, as evidenced by all the paint chips eating responses in this thread, and others around the boards. Everyone is white knighting the players side like they are absolutely blameless in this whole mess. Just like the BCTWGMIU is completely blameless for the death of Hostess. At this point, I really fail to care about the NHL anymore. Both sides have demonstrated multiple times that they are petulant children who don't want to share their Legos. If neither side is willing to budge, there's no way to move forward. BOTH sides are at fault. Keep on believing that if the owners would just fire Bettman and bring on Bob Goodenow that everything would just move along nicely.

i don't like bettman either and i hope he is gone soon after the next cba is signed. but i don't let the hate cloud my judgement and i certainly don't let it support players who call out the head nhl guys idiots and cancer as somehow being the right thing to do. it's unprofessional and does nothing positive whatsoever for getting hockey back.

I honestly can't believe how much stone throwing is going on here. Who knew LGW was so full of morally, ethically, and behaviorally PERFECT individuals? I know I screwed up a lot in my youth, then learned my lessons and got over it. How lucky for all of you that you've never done anything wrong or irresponsible before. Nothing to get over. Easy. Here's hoping Riley (and the rest of us degenerates) can one day live up to the high bar that you've set for us. Lord knows you'll all be there waiting to point a finger and give us a good old fashioned self-righteous sermon if we don't.