stevkrause

I actually had to re-read it too, because my brain first registered Chelios too, haha

Mr. Hockey himself when I was 4 years old at a hardware store, he signed a puck for me, rubbed me on the head and told me to skate hard and stay with it... he then crouched down, put his arm around me and took a picture with me... I lost that picture and it bums me out to this day that I don't have it anymore... fast forward to modern day and I don't get awed by celebrities/athletes anymore and never ask for autographs, I just talk to them like regular people and shoot the s***, saying good game or good show tonight(musicians) and go about my business... The day I met Gordie though... I was in awe...

This is what I would like to see... I like that we make sure guys are "over-ripe" but if he continues to develop at this pace, he should be up here sooner than later... there is a fine line between making sure guys are foaming at the mouth to get to the NHL and becoming stagnant with ones development at the AHL level, so far, we seem to have done a good job toeing that line, I just don't want a guy who is DEFINITELY NHL ready to stay in the AHL and stunt his development...

I just don't see us going after a scorer, unless a trade is made... we'd have too many top line guys and not enough minutes for them to be truly effective...

I'd bet my house that it wouldn't happen.

I agree, I don't think he alone will carry this team to the SCF, but I wouldn't be surprised to see us ice a team of basically the same as last year + Hudler... It would be nice to see Holland pull off a major move...

For the record - I haven't given you a single negative... if anything, this should just go to show you what others think of the way you are conducting yourself on this board...

If the playoffs ended today and if he continues his play to this point, it will be Toews hands down... with that said, if Leighton can come in and REALLY shut down Chicago, he'd have to get some serious consideration with the way he played in the ECF coupled with a shutdown SCF leading to a win... Also, lets not rule out Duncan Keith at this point either, if he has a HUGE SCF, he could have an outside shot too and (throw up in mouth moment) Pronger has to get some consideration as well depending on the outcome... With all that said, I think Chicago is going to win the cup and I think Toews will ultimately win the Conn Smythe.... One way or another, I'm going to want to puke regardless of the outcome and I hate everything about this years Stanley Cup Finals...

That line was in perfect English and grammatical context - just because your tiny brain can not wrap around its context is not my issue... Next, DO the math: 2010 - 20+ ≤ 1990 - Lidstrom came on board in 1992 - What an asinine question... if you've been following them for more than 30 years, great for you, but to assume I am a "fair weather fan" who wasn't around before the late 90's and at the tail end of the "Dead Wing era" and to question my knowledge of this team is arrogant and "douchey"(yes, that one's not a real word, but I think you can figure it out without a dictionary) Next, listen armchair GM, opinions are like assholes and we all have one, the context of this thread was what the team WILL look like - to suggest what you would LIKE to see done is one thing, but you replied under the context that that WILL happen... and if you actually follow the "business" end of things and have "been a fan for over 30 years" - You would know that's not the way Holland operates and to say the team will "look like s***" is even more laughable... how many cups has Holland brought us???? This would basically be the same team as 08 and what happened then???? I'm sure if Holland sees a number problem, he will adjust contracts fittingly... but to suggest that Nick gets A PENNY LESS than 5 million (unless HE takes it SPECIFICALLY to give the team cap relief) is a joke - you offer the guy the world and let him decide how much he wants, because it's what he's earned. Finally, I don't know how hard it is to wrap your head around the context of this thread - It was not a line thread, or a contract number thread, those were just numbers I was estimating, I was more concerned with the PLAYERS ON THE ROSTER... exactly... especially since so many people are conveniently leaving out the X factor - healthy lines have time to gel and chemistry is VERY important...

it's a fun thought, except for that whole time in federal prison for collusion and conspiracy charges, haha

Those comments are very encouraging - shows a lot of passion

Damn... he's got SO much cap space to play with too, it's insane... This isn't really that out of the realm of possibility for them next year (not likely, but fun to play with) Ilya Kovalchuk ($8.000m) / Vincent Lecavalier ($7.727m) / Martin St. Louis ($5.250m) Vyacheslav Kozlov ($3.500m) / Steven Stamkos ($3.725m) / Ryan Malone ($4.500m) Stephane Veilleux ($0.750m) / Mattew Lombardi ($2.500m) / Steve Downie ($2.000m) Todd Fedoruk ($1.058m) / Paul Szczechura ($0.900m) / Kirk Maltby ($0.700m) Ted Purcell ($0.600m) Victor Hedman ($3.500m) / Mattias Ohlund ($3.607m) Andrej Meszaros ($4.000m) / Matt Walker ($1.700m) Kurtis Foster ($1.500m) / Matt Lashoff ($0.550m) Matt Smaby ($0.525m) Mike Smith ($2.200m) / Antero Niittymaki ($0.600m) (these totals are compiled using the bonus cushion) ROSTER: 22; PAYROLL: $60.559m; CAP ROOM: $1.468m BONUSES: $5.450m

I definitely thought we'd see Maltby there as soon as I heard this...

Your s*** = you I have been following this team for over 20 years and you've just proven you know nowhere NEAR the same about them as me...

once again, what I said it WILL look like... not what I'd do, even though you're a giant ******, I agree and I would actually prefer Hudler be traded as well, but it's not going to happen... I also said this ISN'T A LINE THREAD - I never said he should be a tope line guy, that was just thrown together (as I already covered) as for the trade of Ritola, I didn't say it WOULD happen, I just said I thought it might, Holland has said he was going to tender offers to all of our RFA's, so Meech/Miller/Ritola - 2 of those 3 will need to be traded OR waived - that IS the business end of things, there is simply not the roster space... Also, keep politics off this board - they don't belong here and make you look like a giant ass in all ways.

I only make predictions when I genuinely believe something... the same way I predicted that Flip will be a 70 pt scorer in this league... fans in Montreal have never seen him until now and their glimpse would be based off of a hot streak, so of course he's going to look better from an outsider's perspective... As I have said all along, he is playing well right now, but I look at it as a hot streak and anomaly and think water will find it's level and he will return to what he was here - a 20 or less point a season player who gets those points in bunches when he has talent around him, but takes shifts off and plays when he wants to, eventually getting him relegated to 3rd or 4th line minutes, then the press box after several games of lackluster play... what I really think is going to happen, is that he will put up a lackluster season next year, eventually being scratched and then waived and will go back overseas by 2012... and like I said then - I will GLADLY stand up and admit if I was wrong - I firmly believe in voicing what I believe and standing by it, not just over ridiculous message boards and a game, but in life as a whole - If you can't stand for something, you'll fall for nothing.

I'm not saying to admit you're wrong now - the verdict is still out, but will you be man enough to admit you're wrong when(if) the time comes? Or will you just make more excuses like you do every other time? - that's my point. Next, I never said he's lazy and sucks - I said he looks like he's playing with no heart and isn't showing enough effort on the puck - that is on the ice, not opinion. I completely believe that Leino will never be more than a fringe NHL'er at best, if an NHL'er at all, and I stand by that and of course I'm going to back that stance - all I EVER asked of you, was to go ahead and make a bold prediction of your own if you are so convinced of the opposite... but you can't/won't I'm not "trying to make you look bad", you're doing that just fine on your own...

I have given you solid, substantiated responses to EVERYTHING I have said... it's just gotten past the point in even trying to debate with you, because you always come back with the same, tired, old crap... I even said FLAT OUT - I will gladly admit I am wrong and eat my crow if he puts together a full season and proves me wrong... how is that biased? At least I'm man enough to man up and admit it when I AM wrong, you just sound like a broken record. Keep trying though, you only make yourself sound like more of a Finnish slappy, who's unwilling to look at things from ANY other perspective, every time you post...

wow, I don't know how I did that, I meant to have Eaves in... I think all 3 of Miller/Eaves/Ritola will be signed, but one traded... I think Ritola might get traded to be honest and I actually think Eaves is the most likely of the 3 to be back... don't know how I made that mess up... good catch

Only unrealistic options... if someone came back with something that DIDN'T involve trading a recently signed player, who just came back from the KHL, SPECIFICALLY to play here, or cutting one or BOTH of our RFA forward acquisitions from last year, who were integral to our PK mind you (both of whom Holland has already said he will tender offers to) and I'd have no problem with it... suggest that Holmstrom walks, or we let Bert and Lilja go and fill out spots that way and I would not argue it... but to suggest something COMPLETELY uncharacteristic of Holland and co. isn't realistic and you know it... that was the only post I had an issue with... We don't want that... that'd be 1.583 we'd have to eat as it was a 35+ signing...

exactly... plus all the constant travel associated with being a coach, the job on RDS allows him to be stationary and stay within the country's boundaries... I think any of those (Hitchcock, Smith, Nolan) with the exception of Melrose (which I'm about 99% sure you did in jest) would be great choices... I would imagine that a call will at least be made to see if he wants to interview...

Well, he's currently a Canadian Senator... so I'm pretty sure he's out of the running... I'm really interested to see who he hires as coach... I wonder what the odds are of a guy like Hitchcock?

On the color wheel, yes, in the terms of opposition colors (team blue v. team red), it's very accurate...

They actually have a reasonable fan base and revenue stream there (most likely due to the aforementioned transplants down there from the north) and the new owner has made it very clear that he is taking a hands off approach and will let the GM make the hockey decisions - http://www.tampabay.com/sports/hockey/lightning/new-tampa-bay-lightning-owner-jeff-vinik-not-flashy-and-thats-good/1077885 (good read by the way) It really looks like the perfect GM job to be honest and I'm surprised the list of candidates wasn't longer - that is unless it was always going to be Nonis or Yzerman or bust in the first place

He is the most exact example of a human rat alive...