stevkrause

I like this thought, but there's no way he only takes the 1mil for this season, regardless of the overall payday, he's been making over 2 million a season and I would imagine wants another payday before his career is over... lets call a spade a spade, he's the best at what he does, but he's too one dimensional to take a lot of the cap... What I would love to see them do, is give him a 2 yr/4 million contract - 2.5 million for 2010 and 1.5 million base salary for 2011, but with bonuses which could raise him to 2.5 for 2011 - actual cap hit of 2 million a year... then, if he hits his bonus marks, it means he had a great year in 2011 and earned his 2.5, of which, we can defer some of that bonus salary to the following year if needed for cap space reasons...

hahahahaha... REALLY?! You're going to try and eek something out by correcting a phrase?! Just walk away with your tail between your legs - You were wrong. period. take your lumps and leave the thread with some dignity and eat your crow. Also, as with the rest of the thread, you're wrong there too - it's just a phrase and both are acceptable terms in a tennis match, as in when it comes down to the last point of the game... pathetic...

Exactly - when it matters Point. Set. Match. Big Joe Choke

haha, not ridiculous - normal and Thornton has NOT been their best player when it matters, so your opinion is moot. v. Chicago 2GP 0G 1A 1PT -4

So far, yes, Ovechkin has choked, because he has not come through when it mattered - I don't know why you can't grasp this - this isn't JUST about points, it's about the way you lead your team and the effort in the moments that it matters and I know you're trying to be cute, but cut it - you know damn well that because one guys lifts his game and helps his team win, that doesn't "make every other player a choke" Your best players need to be your best players, in the times it matters the most. period. I don't know how much clearer I can put that...

thank you!

and David Stern's imbecile protege is running the NHL... what a surprise...

I don't see any chance that the East could pull it off, unless something miraculous happens in both series, where the West goes 7 and gets VERY worn down and the East is over in 5... Regardless, I'm pulling like hell for Montreal to be a Cinderella story at this point, but I have a bad feeling we're going to see Philly and Chicago and I hate them both...

and ONCE AGAIN(ugh) "carry their team on their back" does NOT MEAN DO IT ALL... Pavelski has been tearing it up for San Jose and Heatley and Boyle and PPG players... "carry a team on your back" means lift them, emotionally and physically with your play... it's not all about stats, and if he can't inspire them and score goals WHEN THEY MATTER, he is a choke... I don't even know how I have to keep explaining this to you, I really could not have made my point any clearer... UNTIL HE WINS THE BIG PRIZE, THE EARLY ROUNDS DO NOT MATTER

when I re-read it, I see how it could have been misconstrued, I should have been clearer... thanks for the link by the way, I guess we'll just have to sit by and nervously watch how this develops

Best player UNTIL NOW - it's all moot and useless if you can't win the big prize... until he proves otherwise, he will be considered a choke... Really? Pavel and Zetterberg didn't carry their team to a Stanley Cup in 08?!? Zetterberg: GP: 22 G:13 A:14 P:27 +16 Datsyuk GP: 22 G:10 A:13 P:23 +13 Giguere didn't carry his team to a SCF against NJ when he won the Conn Smythe and they only lost because they couldn't score (keep in mind, this argument also doesn't REALLY apply to goalies, as they cannot score the goals, even though he backs up my argument) and Pronger never led his team to a cup... what was it Anaheim did in 07? 07 SC Playoffs: Pronger: GP: 19 G:3 A:12 P:15 +10 even ****** Crosby last year did it... you, if anything, helped prove my point... not yours....

I wasn't saying you were... I was merely showing what I posted earlier, to show why Tampa scares me about him leaving... read it in context.

My point is, those players elevated their game when needed to bring them championships and what made them champions - Someone can be +30 with 20 goals and 20 assists in rounds 1 and 2, but if you can't get past the conference finals and can't help your team win a cup... what good are you? He chokes on the biggest stage and that's where I think it is relevant... that is at least the point I'm getting at.

ugh... like I said: This is actually the scenario that scares me the most... I really hope he stays put

You're over simplifying my words, take over a game, does not mean single-handedly win a game - it means be an impact player every shift and affect the outcome of the game. Hockey is a team game and you don't even win ONE game, let alone a Stanley Cup with one player or a line, but the true greats will put a team on their back and carry them to victory when needed (Orr, Gretzky, Howe, Yzerman, Messier, etc....)

The league should be doing everything in its power to ice the entire official group from the Olympics and wipe their dead weight clean... The Olympics was the best officiated hockey I have seen in my lifetime...

I'm sorry, this has absolutely no relevance to the topic... but I can't stop laughing at it and wanted to share it with everyone here... ok, back to the topic at hand, he is very poor defensively, takes bad penalties and cannot step up in big games, probably one of the best trades Boston ever made...

The point is, when the team needs him to take over and win a game or series, he is yet to prove he can and through the first 2 games against Chicago, he has just proven his choke status...

You should have titled this by his more commonly known name "Big Joe Choke"

UFA - Unrestricted Free Agent - can sign anywhere with no stipulations RFA - Restricted Free Agent - team that owned the players rights has a week to match any offer another team extends, if the teams opts to not match the offer, they are compensated with draft pick(s) depending on salary - the higher the tender sheet signed, the more they lose

+1

He did have a ton of issues in his own end a couple years ago and he still isn't exactly NHL ready, but he has taken leaps and bounds from where he was 3 years ago... if(and that's a HUGE IF) he keeps progressing at the rate he has been, he will be a bigger, faster Rafalski... Mentor and coach are 2 different things though, I think Nick has had a GREAT influence and mentor on many players through our system, unfortunately, a couple of them had tragic ends to their careers (Vladdy, Fisher), but otherwise, I think he has had a huge impact on Kronwall as well... I would like to see Ericsson paired with him every so often too, I think it could have a great impact EDIT - Note, I know Vladdy and Nick came in at the same time and he wasn't technically a mentor, but one can still impact a guy without mentoring him, just by playing alongside them

Kindl's +/- has pretty drastically improved in his 3 years in GR, also, I caught a few GR games online and one in person this year and Kindl looked VERY good positionally and talent wise... but the verdict is still out on Kindl (and Ericsson too) I think Nick is about the best mentor a player could have... but I agree, they do need to learn from playing alongside mentors...

Ericsson>Meech>Janik>Kindl>a bear on skates on skates>a wacky-waving-inflatable-flailing-arm-tubeman>Lebda - just because Lebda was decent in 08, he was horrible the last two years and should have been flat out waived this year... I agree the turnover on the roster is the single greatest impact on the team, but even last year WITH Hossa and all the same pieces from '08 otherwise, our team defense took a drastic decline... this is why I think one of the main problem lies on McCrimmon, not solely and I never said it was 100% his fault, however, he is not doing his job as well as he could with what he is given and THAT is why I think he should be replaced. - he is not even meeting expectations, let alone surpassing them. Also, I think Ericsson still VERY much needs to be worked on with positioning and defensive placement, as he is still fairly green at the position, now, where most defensemen have this worked out by the time they hit the NHL level, he did not play D his whole life and needs someone to develop him as such (I think Fraser did a very good job in the AHL and we may even want to consider promoting him to D coach of the big club) As for the pairings, I think you should balance your strengths and weaknesses Lidstrom-Kronwall Stuart-Rafalski Ericsson-Lilja Agreed.

agreed, we CANNOT lose him for nothing, I love our loyalty, but if it comes down to it, they need to waive Draper before they waive Ritola... he may not ever be more than a 4th line guy in this league, but he has WAY too much potential to lose for nothing...