Doggy

Trade bait.

Hossa was good in that series but Crosby and Fleury were both far better. Far better.

Agreed.

Best thread I've seen in a long, long time.

I'm pretty sure Gretzky's salary peaked before 1998 when he was at his worst. They expect the average salary to hit $2m this season, that's a pretty big jump from what it was back then at $1.1m. So for the sake of the argument Gretzky (who wasn't close to the best NHLer in 1998) is getting paid $6.5m. In keeping in line with average player salaries it's closer to a $12m salary for Gretzky. So I think you were comparing apples and oranges when criticising Redden's contract.

Wow. I had convinced myself he wasn't coming back but I'm rapt I was wrong. A four year deal is a great compliment to the Red Wings organisation.

Thanks Rivalred. I guess one of the worlds largest brewing companies doens't know what it's talking about either.

Make no mistake about it guys. Detroit's defensive dominance won us a championship. I value Franzen and Filppula's defensive responsibility more than Hudler's offensive ability (which is excellent). But that's just me. I'm all about the D - always have been, always will be. I really hope Hudler can develop his 2-way game more like Datsyuk did.

Well, not permanantly. He's a good depth guy. Ya reckon Holland could sign him to a 2-way contract? I spose it doesn't really matter much. Like anyone would claim him off waivers.

The guy's way overrated anyway.

Uhhh... head coaching job that is. Surprised I didn't notice that when I typed it. Lol.

Yeah he left about a year ago. He'd been an associate coach for so long I can't imagine he'd go back the the NHL for anything less than a head job. I think he wants to coach NCAA anyway.

We didn't sign him coz he sucked.

I'm still pissed they beat Italy but I like Spain. They were by far the most consistent team in this tournament. They deserved it.

Lol. No offense, but you don't know what you're talking about. I'm not a beer supplier however I have been in the supply side of the liquor industry for almost 4 years and have heard a bit about it in the trade. A few factors developing for many years have lead to the shortage compounded by the bad weather in Europe 2 years ago that ruined crops. Hops is not like oil though, the shortage will only be temporary.

Babcock won't want Barry Smith.

I don't like Emery. He seems like a bit of a tosser.

I tell ya what man. That is a good-lookin kid for a new born. Fair dinkum, most of them look like little freakish aliens for the first few days.

There should be. I assume he must be better than Mikael Samuelsson because it's Mikael Samuelsson. How could he NOT be better?

Burke needed to free up cap space. This is the main reason behind him putting Bryzgalov on waivers. It wasn't to keep his pinky promise.

Giguere won a Stanley Cup in 2007 and you criticise Burke for not shipping him 6 months later.

Thank you. Some ridiculous things being said in this thread.

I think you missed my point. It's not really about the money. Losing a 1st, 2nd and 3rd for a player like Flip who, to be honest it yet to prove much at all, is ludicrous. I honestly believe that Kevin Lowe would've preferred that Burke match the offer to Penner because that cost the Oilers far too much. I think he's pretty bloody lucky the Sabres matched Vanek's offer. My point - in almost all cases, RFA's are not worth it at all.

Why are you talking about flukes? He was nominated for the Norris trophy and is 22 years old. He has steadily improved each year which is impressive considering how awesome he was as a rookie. Definitely a season deserving of a Calder trophy but he was unlucky enough to debut with Crosby and Ovechkin. Nicklas Lidstrom wasn't as good as Phaneuf at 22. Where is all this unreliable stuff coming from? Are we talking about different players? Everyone makes mistakes that can lead to goals. Even Lidstrom, although I've never seen a player that's ever done it as rarely as he. Quite too frequent defensive lapses? What?? While I do respect your opinion, this could be the worst assessment of a player I've ever read.

Me too. Personally, I'm anticipating Nyquist more.