Manoir

I know that's what the draft is meant to do. I'm just saying it's not fair to other teams. Suppose there are 2 teams, one has been last overall for 2 years and has picked #1 for those 2 years and the other has been middle-of-the-pack and consequently drafted in the middle of the 1st round. The last place team now potentially has 2 franchise players while the other team is probably going to be getting an average player. Why should the last place team be given that advantage considering there is a cap now so they don't have an excuse that other teams spend more? You want to get better, make a trade or find some players in later rounds. That will show skill on the part of that last place organization. Anyone can keep on accumulating top 5 picks and for sure one day they'll get better.

Can someone explain to me how the Penguins franchise deserves any credit? They had money issues so they couldn't field a competitive team. They get a bunch of top 5 picks and now they are a good team. How does that take any skill? I have much more respect for a team like Philly that signed free agents and made trades to get better and made some great late round picks and went form last place to the final four in 1 year.

I would love A Wings-Caps final.

I saw that, very interesting interview. Ron Maclean asked him if he would take the job now and Scotty said it's tough to answer hypothetical questions, but it sure looked like he wants the job. They also asked him why he thought the Wings lost to the Ducks last season in the playoffs and he said the Ducks always play on the edge which gives them an advantage in the playoffs. He said that gritty teams with talent like the Ducks usually win a 7 game series. He said to watch out for the Ducks again this year but that they need to replace Selanne's scoring. it sure seemed to me that he also thinks the Wings are lacking in the grit department. CBC also ran a segment on the Wings attendance woes. Christopher Illitch said that being in the western conference is partly to blame as a good portion of Wings games begin late and that the Wings are losing the young fans. The Wings are also considering the possibility of keeping playoff ticket prices at the current level as the increase last season angered fans.

I didn't see this posted anywhere, I apologize if it already has been. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writ...1210/index.html

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07249/815197-100.stm

The Canucks logo should really be a rainbow. What color has this team not had??

Keep in mind that Martin would have been a UFA next summer, so the Devils had to overpay a bit. When Lou likes a D-man, he pays very well, something he was not prepared to do with Rafalski. That makes me a bit nervous.

My sister barely follows hockey and she turned to me and asked why the Wings wren't pulling the goalie. Whether it's fair or not, the two lasting images I have is Yzerman on the bench in the final minute against Edmonton and this.

Every year since Stevens left, people have been writing off the Devils. Every year they are wrong. Most people are forgetting the wild card in all this, Brent Sutter as coach. The Devils will be fine.

Isn't that around the same as last year? CBC will only show the Wings when they are playing a Canadian team on a Saturday. The more worrisome thing is TSN only showing the Wings 4 times all season.

Too busy, don't like the two color scheme on the arms.

There is a tv/radio show here in Canada called Primetime sports. There was a columnist on who says he has heard from someone close to Bowman that the there has indeed been discussion between the Leafs and Bowman. He says this same person told him that if Bowman were to become president, Yzerman has a a chance of being the new GM and Larionov would be an assistant coach. He said Yzerman is eager to become a GM and is uncomfortable about leapfrogging Jim Nill into the GM position. Now, in the same interview the columnist said that Bowman has personally called him to deny being offered the position. Who knows what's really going on.

Here is the transcript of the interview; http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2007/08/sh...an_story_s.html

The other great thing about the Shanahan trade was getting rid of Coffey, a player clearly on the decline but still considered somewhat valuable, and getting something for him. Holland's approach to similar players is to let their contracts run out, whether it be Lang, Hull etc. Again, unwilling or unable to make a move that requires some skill and not just giving picks or throwing money. Then there are the really good GM's like Lamoriello, sees Arnott going down, trades him for Langenbrunner and Nieuwendyk. Burke sees Federov is declining, he's gone. Bold moves turned the Wings around in the 90's. Bowman sees a need for a goalie, so he goes out and trades Chiasson (even though the D was pretty depleted) and gets Vernon. Bryan Murray was unwilling to make that trade and got Essesna instead. That's what seperates the average GM's from the great ones.

The Shanahan trade was very bold. Primeau was what, 25-26 at the time? There was still the distinct possibility of him becoming an extremely dominant centre. Moreover, it was huge in that the Wings saw a need for a power forward and went after it. No waiting to the deadline or only willing to give up picks. Contrast that to the present. Again the Wings see a need for a top6 fwd, and Holland's approach is to wait till the deadline where again he will be unwilling to give up any roster players. I doubt he would have even made the Shanahan trade. Even the Chelios trade you mentioned, another deadline move where a team was looking to rebuild. Not much creativity. Take Lamoriello for example. He has no qualms about giving up roster players to improve his team and then compliments that with extreme shrewdness. Moving up in the draft to nab Parise, brilliant. That's a great GM, not someone who had money at his disposal and so made some moves at the deadline with desperate teams.

Burke did get Jovonovski in the Bure trade and I wouldn't consider Lang an elite player. In any case, the difference is Hollands' strategy is either sign UFA's or wait until the trade deadline and seek out desperate teams who either want to rebuild or shed salary. The last real gutsy trade the Wings made was the Shanahan trade. Holland seems like he is too afraid to make a mistake and so just makes moves when the risk factor is low.

GMR- you can look at the old Penguins jerseys from the 70's here. They have different ones form the early and late 70's. A great site to see old uniforms. http://www.nhluniforms.com/

How can you say that? He overhauled the team and made it much tougher to play against by getting rid of floaters like Federov and Sykora. I think Murray was the one who signed Federov to that horrible contract that would have plagued the team for years to come had no one been willing to take him. The thing I like best about Burke is he is willing to give up some real talent in trades to improve his team,whether it was Bure/Federov/Lupul etc. All Holland seems willing to do is sign UFA's or make deadline deals where he is not willing to part with much (and thus not acquire the elite players).

The best thing Burke did was getting rid of the salaries of Federov and Sykora. It allowed him to be flexible in the long-run and bring in Pronger and retain Giguere. You can't discount that. He's done a very good job.

This is not a Bertuzzi for Penner swap.It is Bertuzzi plus a 1st,2nd, and 3rd round pick for Penner. Plus, with Bobby Ryan coming up, he will essentially replace Penner. The Ducks are hardly in trouble.

About 2-3 years ago Burke had an exchange on Hockey Night in Canada with a Toronto reporter named Al Strachan who had mentioned that Burke was trying to make a trade for someone (I forget who). It went something like this; Burke:Don't listen to Al, his rumour record is poor. Strachan:Just like your playoff record. Of course with Burke winning the cup that comment isn't much now, but it was great at the time.

Why top 11? Why not top 10 or 15 or some normal number.

http://www.boston.com/sports/hockey/bruins...t_stops/?page=1

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/attendance?year=2007