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that guy is a shadow, wrapped in butter. love it!

March 26, 1997. A champion was born that day.

Put Bettman in goal and put it on pay-per-view. Bettman gets shellacked, the league recoups its financial losses, and the players get to start the season with a warm, fuzzy feeling in their hearts.

Hell at this point they should try just about anything. I guess it's good Bettman actually asked the union this time before trying the end around of owners talking directly to players. Mostly I just meant that this definitely benefits the owners more than players. There's nothing they'd love more than to negotiate directly with players during contract negotiations and CBA negotiations. It'd be like the pre-NHLPA days. If hockey players were great at negotiations, they wouldn't need agents. Meanwhile they're sitting across from billionaire owners with extensive business and negotiating experience, as well as a massive support staff to help them. Either way, my main position is still f*** this league. With the growth this league has enjoyed during this last CBA, the prudent move would've been a compromise that wouldn't lose games and damage the integrity and public faith in the NHL. What both sides gave up on the negotiating table would've been recouped fairly quickly. Instead they're still arguing over how to arrange the deck chairs on the titanic.

That second point is what I think the majority of people I argue with don't seem to understand. To solve a problem, your solution actually has to address the root cause of that problem. Otherwise, it's like trying to bandage on your finger to cure a headache - it doesn't make any sense. In 2004/05, there was an idea that player salaries had gotten out of control. Even thought the fans personally identified with the players more than a bunch of suits who own and operate the teams, public sentiment was largely on the side of the owners. A lot of people, myself included, assumed that if you put a reasonable cap in place, ALL teams would have to spend more responsibly. More importantly, the disparity in budget between the "haves" and "have nots", by definition could not be more than $16 million (difference between cap floor and cap ceiling). The new CBA really could have succeeded. But two things happened between 2005 and 2012 that really destroyed any chance for smaller markets to compete again. The first was that the revenues of the game grew, which meant that the cap increased: Raise your hand if you really thought we would nearly DOUBLE the salary cap by 2012 (oh, and by the way, in the midst of a massive worldwide recession). Oh, and by the way, teams like the Detroit Red Wings, who were derisively referred to as the "Yankees" of the NHL, actually didn't spend more than the current salary cap amount before the new CBA, except for one season (2003-04). That "all-star" team that one the 2001-02 Cup with something like 11 Hall of Famers on it? Their payroll of $66 million would've fit easily into the Cap for the 2012-13 season. Of course, the problem was getting worse and worse without a Cap, and I agreed at the time that Salary Cap was necessary. Unfortunately, the implementation of that did nothing to slow the increase of salaries. It simply reset the clock for a few years, which is necessary anyway after you sit out a whole season and disillusion much of your fanbase. The second thing that happened, of course, was the backdiving contracts and owners/GM's figuring out ways to spend more on players than the team's cap figure would seem to imply. This is significant financially because if you're handing out money to minor league stashes, bonuses, and actual payments to players larger than their cap hit would suggest, then the salary cap really isn't doing much to limit spending, which was supposed to be the whole point of this fiscal responsibility push in 2004-05 in the first place. Long story short, the system was fundamentally flawed, and the combination of the increased cap and "cheater" contracts that payed more than they appear to led to sustained spending on players. Those problems do need to be fixed so that spending can't get out of control again. But if you're Phoenix, or Nashville, or Dallas, or whatever...people still need to want to BUY your product, or you'll never make money like the big boys. Even worse, the CBA that is supposed to help all teams by controlling spending actually hurts franchises by putting a cap FLOOR on those teams. Many of those franchises are going to draw 10,000 to 12,000 per game whether they spend $25 million or $50 million on payroll. There just aren't enough fans to support the product long-term in those markets, and that has nothing to do with the players or how much revenue they get.

This lockout is boring as hell, I was looking for an interview from the NHLPA regarding the recent talks on youtube and somehow it was linked to a Pavel Datsyuk video (hes amazing, maybe thats why). I watched the video and it was pretty badass, it's pretty amazing to see how many highlights he has compiled over the years. Anyways if your bored and want some Datsyukian fix, heres the video.

Red Wings should have some prospects at the tournament. Frk, Ouellet, Sproul and Nedomlel should all be there. Bob MacKenzie sees Patterson as getting an invite to the camp and as one of a few goalies penciled to challenge for back up to Subban. Tvrdon would have been on the Czech team if not for the injury (2 years in a row that his season was cut short due to injury, he had a slow start (probably rust) and then was tearing it up before developing some sort of infection). Jurco is only 3 days too old to participate in the tournament. http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=410405 Ryan Sproul isn't even mentioned and he just may be the best jr aged defenseman in the world. It is mentioned that Murray's offense will be missed esp on the PP but Sproul is even more capable of producing offense (Murray had 2 goals and 17 points in 23 games before getting injured. Sproul only has 2 less points, 2 more goals in less than half the games). He is scoring at a better clip than Hamilton but also has some size, plays physically and is right handed shot. He got off to a hot start leading the OHL defensemen in scoring with 9 points in his first 6 games but broke his forearm in the 7th, he has returned from injury earlier than expected and hasn't skipped a beat continuing from where he left off scoring 3 goals and 3 assists in his first 4 games back. The Greyhounds are 4-9-1-0 without him and 7-2-1-0 with him. he is dominating the OHL like no other defenseman in a long time.

I love that man. So freaking talented and yet so humble.

I think you just love to read your own posts. Do you actually believe this arguement? Pretty sure we made a huge pitch for Suter and at the end of the day, he chose to play with his BFF. Just for the record, the 11 million dollars we spent was spend on depth...no one on that list is a scrub...Do I LOVE Sammy...Um, NO....but he can assist with some production. Q had a crap year but 2 years ago everyone bitched that we traded him when he had huge points....Everyone complained that we needed to get tougher...BAM, TooToo is signed and you ***** about that. Holland didnt puss out so when the cap goes down, we will be laughin' and thinking Kenny is a genius. PS As for youth coming in, hows that Emmerton situation working out? Just sayin'....n

I'd say don't get involved with the NHL, Gary Bettman likes to shut down the game every 7 years

Comparing midseason injuries to off-season roster changes is an absolute joke. Yes, we had a downward spiral last season when Nicky got hurt but that's expected when your #1 D man goes down mid season... whom are you going to replace him with? The magical lockdown defensemen you've been hiding in your closet all season? Off-season roster changes happen and players get the time to adjust to systems during training camp. Apples to oranges my friend.

.....That was epic

Hard to watch without missing him...

Would be nice to be out there every shift with Hall, Eberle, and RNH =p Shultz is damn good no doubt, but they are only one year apart Shultz had a .93 PPG in college, while Smith had a .91(while being younger in college). Add to the different style that they play, Smith is a much more rugged and physical defenseman, while Shultz is more of a cerebral puck mover. I'm not saying Smith is better, but we should definitely be excited here in Detroit for him, he's excelled at each and every level and is one of the best defenseman prospects outside the NHL.

Plenty of other hockey to watch. I am watching KHL streams when I can and I am going to more Griffins games. The NHL is a distant memory to me.

Sorry, I meant the team, the hard working people of the surrounding businesses, arena employees, and others affected by this have my sympathy.

The Kings weren't steamrolling everything all the way to the cup. They certainly struggled in the regular season and had to change up their system to be successful. They also rode a VERY hot goalie that could change a game all by himself. Not every team has a big, mobile, destructive defense so we can't pretend that's all that exist in the NHL nowadays. Are teams getting bigger and are players harder to play against? Absolutely, but let's not make it out to seem like all 29 teams are going to be wiping us up and down the floor with their giant defense. Now, as much as I don't like our defense, I think many are underestimating what we have in our hand. We got rid of Hudler and Emmerton and replaced them with Sammy, Brunner, and Tootoo. I like this. We took someone whom can produce, but is horrible at backchecking and has no size. We added someone whom loves to miss the net, but can actually backcheck and will be in position more than what Hudler was ever capable of. Brunner brings more speed to the team, and in todays NHL speed can and will kill. Emmerton didn't do s*** last season, and if it wasn't for losing him to waivers we probably would've thrown him back into the system in Grand Rapids. Tootoo brings much needed size, with added production over Emmerton. Brunner is going to be the risk, but he's already working with Zetterberg. They're destroying it over there, and getting much needed confidence. This will translate back in America (their confidence and chemistry, brunner will still have to convert over to smaller ice). As much as our defense goes, yes we lost Lidstrom but we didn't lose Lidstrom in his prime or in 2008/9. We lost a 2012 Lidstrom. As much as it hurts to say, you could see his game starting to decline and mistakes were being made, someone unheard of and out of character for the non-human defensemen and captain. We added Carlo, to take over for Kindl. Ericsson has been improving, regardless of how much we hate him or not, each and every season. He will have more roles added to him now with the diminished core. To the people to say he is worthless and sucks, look at how much our PK hurt when he was gone. Even Mike Babcock himself made the notion on how much he missed his presence. It's the small things gents, and they add up. We may not have the big names, or the superstars filling our lineups but all of this stuff tweaks an already solid lineup. Players will need to step up, and they will make mistakes, but we're not in that big of a hole as everyone wants to make it out to be.

I know that reading the dictionary is probably more exciting than this, but, it really is a must read for most fans. Unfortunately, it gets about as much attention as a cars owners manual. http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=27011 Edit: And BTW, welcome to the greatest sport around, and welcome to our big disfunctional family.

Just take in a lot of games with other knowledgeable fans. You'll pick it up as you watch more of it. And ask a lot of questions. If I can teach hockey to my girlfriend then I think anyone can learn.

Well, a big problem with all of this was that he was wrongly diagnosed. He didn't have a concussion but rather problems with his neck that was causing the symptoms of concussion (IIRC). When we think of him having a concussion, ofcourse the media is going to say, "He came back because it was his duty to play hockey damnit! Look at that toughness, I can see his balls from space." When we found out that it wasn't just a concussion from hits, then it became a little more serious and it's currently more serious. I think his reputation stems from his immaturity when first coming into the league, and the fact that he didn't earn the respect that he oh so desperately thinks he rated. Someone needed to show him the ropes on how to handle himself, on and off the ice. It's not necessarily his fault, as he was just a youngster. Over time you expect him to clean up his act, especially wearing the "C" on his shoulder, but he certainly didn't. If he did, he wouldn't have acted like a young primadonna during the Flyer series. I think the guy has some incredible skills, hell his skillset is second to none. Unfortunately, just because you're good at hockey doesn't mean i'm going to RESPECT you as a person. Once he cleans his act up and wants to act like a leader, then he'll start getting respect from me.

Entire 2011 San Jose Sharks roster

I deleted more posts because they went from discussing the lockout to making personal comments about the person they're quoting. Want your posts to live in this thread? Stay on topic and discuss the lockout. Want them to disappear? Keep making personal accusations about each other. If you haven't noticed, the rules are being enforced tightly in this thread because of all the crap that's gone on and multiple warnings being ignored.

What would be more frustrating for him is he knew that Holland wasn't putting any effort in..he clearly is and teams don't want to deal with us. It's pretty cut and dry