Manoir

Constant line juggling, not calling a timeout late in the game to possibly get Crosby/Nash back out there after their incredible shift, not pulling Brodeur after a somewhat shaky third goal. If he starts Brodeur next game the fans are gonna hang him from the scoreboard.

Babcock is getting killed in the local bars here in Canada. I'm glad, always thought he was overrated and I'm so sick of that stupid look on his face,we get you're intense.

I don't get why teams like Atlanta make trades like these. The whole "we can't lose him for nothing" stance only works if you actually get something in return. Bergfors?He was drafted what 4 years ago and even today is a healthy scratch on some nights. A 1st round pick that'll be between 25-30. Why not just keep Kovalchuk and take your chances at trying to get in the playoffs? I like what Florida did last year. Sure they lost Bouwmeester for nothing but they used that money to sign Seidenberg and acquire Reinprecht and now they are right back at their normal level and saving a whole lot of money. They took their chance and missed the playoffs due to a tiebreak but at least they tried to make the playoffs and build some fan support. Whatever they would have gotten for a rental Bouwmeester would probably not have been any better than Reinprecht/Seidenberg.

This is where it's originally from, it's a Maple Leafs blog http://www.downgoesbrown.com/

This is a decision that could have been made one week after the trial started. Put it this way,let's say I want to buy the Coyotes for $500 mil but with the condition that I will relocate them to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. No one in North America would agree with me even though I'm offering the most. People got hung up on Hamilton because it seems like a viable market and missed the whole point that one man can't unilaterally decide where to put a team.

Gretzky had a lot do with the Coyotes problems, mainly because there always seemed to be a conflict of interest with his hirings. First, he brought in his buddy Mike Barnett as GM who made wonderful deals such as Briere for Gratton and signings such as Jovonovski for 5 years 30 mil. . Then Gretzky put his own brother in charge of the Coyotes scouting dept. In 2007, when the Coyotes were looking for a new GM, Gretzky was the main man who was conducting the interviews despite being the coach. Add all this up and throw in his 8 mil per year salary and it is clear that his reign was nothing short of a disaster that may have killed a franchise.

Pretty interesting stuff... http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/cbc/090807/cana...y_study_alberta CALGARY (CBC) - Immigration and wide-ranging entertainment choices are to blame for a waning interest in professional hockey by Canadian teens, suggests research done in Alberta. The percentage of teens who say they follow the National Hockey League closely has dropped from 45 per cent to 35 per cent since 1992, according to the survey of more than 5,500 teens. "What these findings point to is the fact that the entertainment choices of young people and the rest of us have exploded," said author and sociologist Reginald Bibby of the University of Lethbridge. He said if kids and their parents aren't brought up with hockey, they don't follow the game. "Growing numbers of teens have come to Canada from countries where their sports choices have been led by soccer and basketball." James Penner, an associate director of the study, said the NHL should have tickets that are more affordable and teams that are more competitive and entertaining to build up its teenage fan base. The survey results are published in a new book called The Emerging Millennials. Antoine Roberge, 15, who was skateboarding at a park in Calgary, said he only occasionally watches hockey. "People have better things to do than watch hockey," he said. Riley Reed said the NHL lockout in 2004 turned him off hockey, and he switched to watching poker. "The rules and the style of play: it's just not as fun as it used to be," he said. Skateboarder Peter Dang said he and his friends spend their time skiing, snowboarding and golfing but not playing hockey. "Unless you're fairly well off and have parents that can support it, alternatives like skateboarding and even snowboarding is probably, I can imagine, a little bit more affordable," he said. But Thomas Weber, a parent from southwest Germany, said interest in ice hockey in Europe is growing. "The parents, the other people, they like sports which is very fast so ice hockey is very interesting for this because it is the fastest team game in the world," he said. Weber was in Calgary with his sons, aged six and 12, at a summer hockey training camp. He said they usually travel to Switzerland or the Czech Republic, but his sons asked to train in Canada this year.

I like this post.

Actually, I think this study covered every age group and Calgary had the highest percentage of people who follow hockey at 48%, Toronto was last at 20%. Here's an additional link. http://news.globaltv.com/sports/Canada+lov...9895/story.html Canada's love of hockey waning: survey finds It seems a heretical claim to make at a time when there is a high-stakes fight over bringing a U. S. hockey franchise to Canada, but a new sociological survey suggests that interest in the National Hockey League has been declining over the past two decades. "It's one of the few Canadian myths we have, this alleged [nationwide] love of hockey," says Reginald Bibby, a sociologist at the University of Lethbridge, who says his findings debunk the myth. The largest proportion of fan losses is occurring among teenagers, in a trend which he says calls into question the game's endurance as our national winter sport. "We can no longer take it for granted that growing up in Canada means you're going to be in love with hockey, or with the NHL specifically," said Prof. Bibby, whose findings draw on a nationally representative sample of more than 5,500 teens. Between 1990 and 2005, the percentage of adults who "very" or "fairly" closely follow the NHL dropped to 30% from 36%. Among teens, fandom during the 1992 to 2008 period--fell fully 10 points, to 35% from 45%. Prof. Bibby says the findings, published in his new book The Emerging Millennials, suggest that immigration patterns, as well as the explosion of entertainment options, are reprogramming the national DNA. His sociological explanation for the phenomenon is that the "death of the monoculture" has led to a splintering of individual interests, with more consumer choices leading to fewer pastimes that are truly embraced on a national level. While hockey may still be the country's favourite, compared with other sports, he notes that the sheer number of choices reduces the actual numbers of avid followers. According to the research, it is not just hockey that suffering; the findings demonstrate that professional sports of every stripe are losing their appeal among young supporters. In the early 1990s, 33% of teens followed Major League Baseball compared with just 10% today; youth interest in the National Basketball Association is lower now (21%) than before the league expanded into Canada (27%); and football has seen teen fan decreases in both the American and Canadian leagues -- a drop to 19% from 26% for the NFL, and to 14% from 22% for the CFL. Although an impressive one million Canadians tuned in to some part of the recent NHLdraft, Prof. Bibby said this only represents about three per cent of Canada's "hockey-mad" population. In Toronto, youth support for professional hockey was conspicuously lower than in any of Canada's six NHL cities: 20% of teens, compared with 34% in Edmonton, 41% in Ottawa-Gatineau, 44 % in Vancouver, 45% in Montreal and 48% in Calgary. Prof. Bibby suggests these regional differences stem from a combination of the Toronto Maple Leafs' poor performance, game inaccessibility, and higher immigration rates. According to his research, four in 10 Canadian teens with Canadian-born parents followed pro hockey either "very" or fairly" closely. Among those born here but whose parents were born elsewhere, the proportion dropped to one-third. For teens born outside Canada, interest bottomed out at one in five

That contract is really starting to hurt. Rafalski was never worth 6 mil but it is really magnified now.

I'm starting to think that because Holland is a short guy himself he likes to give the smaller players a chance.

Lidstrom and Rafalski are going to be 40 and 37 years old respectively by the time the playoffs roll around next year. That "strength" could turn out to be a major weakness pretty quickly.

When you have a core of Datsyuk/Zetterberg/Franzen/Lidstrom, Mike Milbury can be the GM and the team would still win often. If Holland had a lot of input into drafting those players then he deserves credit. If not, well he's been lucky to have that core because many of his signings/trades have not worked out.

Am I the only one who thinks that the Wings should just sign Grier and give Leino/Abdelkader bigger roles and see what happens? Just because there are some empty spots doesn't mean you have to fill them with garbage. Abdelkader didn't look out of place during the playoffs, what's the big hesitation on giving him a full-time role? He's 22 so he's not really that young anymore, it gets annoying when the Wings refuse to put anyone new who is under 25 into the lineup.

What has always hurt Bowman is his stint in Buffalo. Some people are of the belief that Bowman was lucky to be coach of very talented teams and the one place where he coached that was not a powerhouse he couldn't lead them to success. That may have been a reason for not being ranked higher.

The drafting skills of the Wings has been their biggest asset and it makes Holland look like a better GM than he really is. I don't know how much input he had in the Wings selections since '97 or so, but picks like Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Franzen are the reason the Wings have remained competitive. I truly believe the real test for Holland will come in the next few years once Lidstrom/Osgood retire and he has to start some filling some major holes, not just 2nd/3rd line positions or trying to get a 4th/5th Dman.

Exactly.

I don't get what is wrong with thinking a Black player might get some African-Americans interested in hockey in Detroit. In Toronto there is a large Muslim population and the team has admitted that one of the benefits of drafting Nazem Kadri might be that more Muslims in Toronto will become Leafs fans. Obviously it shouldn't be the top priority, but if there are 2 equal players out there and one of them might be able to attract a different ethnic group then the team would be dumb to not at least consider getting the player who might diversify their fan base.

This redefines the term "killer road trip" The schedule includes a two-week break for the Olympics. However, due to the Olympics, the Canucks will have 14 straight road games before and after the Games, including 8 games before the Olympics, and 6 games after the Olympics. After the Canucks play at home on January 27th, they don't play a game at GM Place until March 13th! http://www.news1130.com/news/more.jsp?cont...6012&page=1

I don't know, the rivalry was so great that anything now just pales in comparison. When I'm with my buddies I sound like a 70 year old talking about the good ole days.

Am I the only one who gets tears when thinking back to how amazing the Wings-Avs rivalry was?

Many events, hockey being one.

One of my Ranger friends sent me this link containing an interview that was conducted with Zherdev by a Russian newspaper. Here are the Detroit related segments as well as the link to the enitre interview Are there any teams in the NHL that you dreamed of playing for as a child? - Yes, I always liked Detroit. - And could you be traded there? - I wouldn’t exactly be against it! - Czech forward Jiri Hudler of Detroit is planning to spend at least two seasons in the Kontinental league, and then return to the NHL. Should you not follow his example? - It’s hard to say. By the way, when I saw the news that Jiri had signed a contract with Moscow Dynamo, I was very surprised. I even thought that something had not been translated correctly. - Is it possible that a place for you was just opened in Detroit? - (Laughs.) I don’t know, we’ll see. http://www.beyondtheblueshirts.com/2009/07...ion-date-looms/

My Ranger buddy mentioned that Zherdev was very good in the regular season but was a complete no-show in the playoffs.