Doggy

Meh. 18th is no big deal. Look at some of the players ahead of him. Chris Mason, Nittymaki, Hiller... not exactly elite. He's easily that good.

It's not rocket science. You don't re-sign Axelsson, Krejci and Kessel are RFA's and should be had for $3m-$4m each. If they sign for $4m absolute max, sign a couple of depth Dmen for just over $1m then they have about $4.5 to spend on Thomas. I can't see Marco Sturm staying on the roster. Worst case scenario they have to buyout his contract which frees a further $2.2m. This is all based on a static cap. We'll see. Unless there are problems, Thomas will stay. You can never concede, can you?

No, I told you it wasn't possible. When did I mention bidding wars? When did I mention highest-paid goaltender? You're so bad at this sometimes.

I think he was special dude. Not cool.

1. If you think they're not too sure about Pavelec, why would they put Kari Lehtonen on the block. Atlanta will do what Pittsburgh did with Fleury and ride him through the bad stages until the team and he are highly competitive. 2. Pekka Rinne and Ellis are pretty capable goalies. Rinne's been lights out this season. Ellis was pretty decent as a starter last season and is a pretty handy backup. Why would they trade him? He's signed through next season. You can call them goaltending challenged if you want. But they aren't. 3. Theodore is a player that could use a challenge. Neuvirth is a kid and will play AHL hockey next season without clearing waivers and Johnson's contract is up after next season. I'd say Conklin would be quite an attractive option for them. I think you kind of embarrassed yourself with this comment. 4. Turco's actually steadily improved as the season has progressed and if you think Hull and Jackson think Conklin is the man to take them all the way over Turco, you're embarrassing yourself more. 5. Commonsense suggests that Boston and Thomas could come to some sort of an agreement. Why would Thomas want to leave. This team will be seriously good for a quite a few more years. They won't re-sign Fernandez so maybe they'll get someone like Conklin but he won't take the starters spot. Losing Fernandez will offset the raise Thomas will earn. None of these teams will have Conklin or anyone like him as their starter next year.

I didn't think you could pick both. We didn't have to wait long to see if Leino would work out. Considering he was just signed months ago.

I don't get this list. Can you explain why you think these teams should be considered? Atlanta - I guess it's feasible that Atlanta might want someone other than Hedberg to challenge Pavelec. That is, if they trade Lehtonen. Not likely though. Either way, Pavelec seems to be their guy. Boston - there's no chance in HELL, that he could be a starter in Boston. You're kidding yourself if you think Thomas won't be re-signed. Dallas - you think Conklin will de-throne Turco??? Seriously? Nashville - Pekka Rinne and Dan Ellis signed through next season.

Lol okay I'll elaborate sorry. Helm is really fast and and puts in 100% and I think he's great I really do. I guess you could say Helm is gritty when compared to Leino but not when compared to an actual gritty player. Helm is probably more of what we need right now, one thing we certainly aren't lacking is skilled offensive forwards. The way I see it though, Leino is flat out just a better hockey player and I highly doubt Helm has the potential to ever become a better player than Leino. To me, this has been very clear in what we've seen of the two. Helm is quick and tries hard but (this year anyway) he hasn't shown any ability to finish or create. I don't know why because he wasn't like that in the playoffs. Leino finishes. Simple. He has the swagger and the confidence to play NHL hockey. It oozed with every stride from his debut onwards. The good news about Helm is, he is able to get himself into position to be a threat offensively, so it will come. He just needs to build the confidence because he is completely snakebit. Does he even have a point this season yet?

I beleive so. I heard something similar about that classy looking old bean in your avatar. He looks like a distinguished gentleman I'd love to share a spot of tea with. What's his name again? Mullet + monocle = all class.

I just really, really, really don't want to take on the Flames. Even if we're lucky enough to get by them... I can see the series having a negative effect on our subsequent matchups. They're a tough, big, hard-nosed yet skilled team with plenty of character. They scare the s*** out of me.

Good for Feds. I don't know if this was worth a topic though.

LOL. Helm over Leino?? Leino is miles ahead of Helm and it'll probably never change.

Sorry, I just found that ironic coming from you.

Yep, both Turco and Nabokov put on a show that night. It was a very entertaining game.

QFT. You wanna see Turco make some saves... game 6 vs. San Jose last year.

They love him in T.O., they always will.

Never heard the expression something-lite.

I know being succinct is your thing. But... what?

True spirit of a hockey player. I don't care how many goals he scored, there's no defense for what he did.

Stats are fun. Kovalev is weak.

Lol I haven't, I dont' think I ever will. I hate the Habs and was glad to see them lose, but I had just never seen a player completely stop, forget about the puck he had possession of, then take out his own teammate while nursing his fake injury, to allow the OT game-winning goal. I've never forgotten it, and because of it I can't respect him ever again.

It's nice to see his hand has recovered from that wicked slash in OT of game 4 against the Bruins in '04. What a dog.

My mistake I thought NN was suggesting we give them a pick.

You should probably rethink what you're suggesting for sec.

My favourite non-Detroit NHL player, Mike Richards scored his 3rd SHG whilst being down 2 men on Sunday. He's the first NHL player in history to do this and he's only 24. Scoring one SHG when down 5 on 3 is difficult enough to fathom, but for one player to do it three times?? Simply amazing. name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>&"> name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350" />