miller76

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=287230 Here tsn just posted this as well.

this is a little too amusing this offseason with this club and their people.

This morning Mike Gillis of the Vancouver Canucks was quoted from a local radio interview, stating that the Canucks were wrapping up contract negotiations with Roberto Luongo. Hoping that it will be a done deal prior to this seasons start. He said that talks are going considerably well, and this deal will make Roberto a Canuck for the duration of his career. He also then hinted that it would pay him slightly over 8 million dollars a year! I know Luongo is a good goalie. But where did I miss the boat here? Where did all this Roberto Luongo sensation come from? Is he really this iconic figure in hockey, that deserves this title of 'best goalie in the league', or 'highest paid goalie ever'? I mean what has he done? No Stanley Cup, no Vezina, no Hart trophy, no Pearson. Though he has been runner ups to some of these trophies, besides a Cup. His biggest accomplishments are most saves in a game, and most shots faced in a game. And now at 30 years old, he is rewarded with a contract like this, that will likely run into his forties. I have two words for teams that sign goalies for big money, multi year deals: Rick DiPietro I am not trashing the guy, I am just wondering where all this man love for this guy came from. This is a snippet from Wiki about the multi OT playoff game (5) against Anaheim in '07, and the reasoning of why he missed the first 3 minutes of the first OT: Oddly, Luongo had missed the first three minutes of the first overtime, to what was first believed to be an equipment malfunction. However, after the series had ended, it was revealed that Luongo, instead, had an untimely case of diarrhea. :flush:

I am right there with you. It seems like two thirds of the teams in the league change goalies more often then not.

I like Ericcson a lot, and I think he will become a hell of a D-man. But I totally felt he was exposed in the playoffs on a couple different levels. I think he just needs a full season in the nhl to find his groove. I do hope that Lilja will return. I didn't realize how valuable of a guy Lilja was, until he wasn't playing. The other D-men were not doing the dirty work, that he would do so quietly, on a nightly basis without recognition.

I think you can legitimately go back to the 07-08 season, one full season removed, and say he was effective regularly. Going back a few seasons Draper and Chelios were hardly effective. Yes Draper is a great face-off guy, but ineffective on the ice otherwise. Holmstrom I feel is still a core player in Hollands plan with him standing in front of the net, pissing the opposing goaltender off, and tipping s*** in.

How come everytime you post some smack about Holmstrom, you only use last year as a benchmark for your view on him? It's easy to dump on a player who was hurt all season, pick his numbers apart, and say he was hard to watch during the playoffs. Go back a few seasons, if you have been watching that long. Take a look at what he is able to contribute nightly when healthy. I think if he is unhealthy and in pain, he needs to consider hanging them up. If he feels good, I am all for him standing there tipping in garbage goals nightly.

nhl.com granato Even though I totally think Colorado is a classless organization, that offered his job to Patrick Roy and others before even communicating with Granato not being the guy this year there. I am glad he rebounded quickly. Still doesn't change the way I felt about him when he was a King, or trash talking assistant in Colorado running his mouth at Babs. Never could stand the guy.

It's pretty easy to dump on Holmstrom after last season, being that he was HURT the whole time! Maybe if you cared to watch the previous season or two and look at his ability to piss off a goaltender, tip goals, and pay the price nightly so the team could win, you would see that he deserves and has earned a spot on this roster in the top 6. I sure as heck would want him on the ice during the playoffs!

They were saying this morning that he definetly wasn't a Tortorella guy. I didn't think he was a Burke kind of player either, now that you mention it.

on the way home tonight, xm was reporting that Toronto was very interested in his services. But yeah, I like him, and yeah he is out of our price range. Oh well, I am over it!

calgary herald article with Bert I have watched Bertuzzi's whole career. I feel like he has gotten old and mature in front of my very own eyes. So after reading this article, it seems highly doubtful he would return to Detroit.

They have been talking about moving Gagne for the right player. Atleast thats what xm reports, them shopping Gagne.

xm said today that Bertuzzi was no longer on the Leafs radar. So x them out.

I have always hated him. He is such a good agitator though.

I honestly would be fine without any of these three. one cant skate one cant score and one cant ever make up his mind! I want Zherdev.

I am thinking Philadelphia. But I liked Berts honesty in the interview, about how the Flames never made that call or even acted like he was ever a part of that team!

Simon for sure. Maybe we can deal Flips for Ryan Holweg while were at it.

Sorry, I just noticed there was a few people talking about this in the Hossa thread.

Philadelphia Enquirer article

Frank Zamboni will be inducted into the 2009 U.S. HHOF. link to story One reason I decided to start a thread about this event, is because I met Mr.Zamboni when I was a child. Frank Zamboni passed away in 1988, but just two years prior, he made an appearance at the ice rink where I played hockey. He gave us some words of wisdom, and invited all of us to take a tour of the Zamboni company in Paramount, CA. (which was only 30 minutes from where we played) Which we did. The Zamboni family and few employees all stopped their daily duties and welcomed us. Very cordial. One of the things Mr. Zamboni told us there was " If hockey was easy, everyone would play it" As ten year olds, we felt empowered to be a better hockey player. I took the words of wisdom from him, and now share them with my son, who plays hockey. So, congratulations to the Zamboni family for a great achievement. zamboni.com

I think the Blackhawks organization is really having a hard time understanding this whole paper work thingy. I thought Stan Bowman was this capologist and CBA guru!

I have been looking all over hockey world for this deal, and nothing. Even xm isn't reporting it, and they are typically quick on this stuff.

xm was reporting this on my drive home today on one of their updates every 15 minutes. They were reporting on a conversation or interview with Roenick and Chelios about how long they were going to continue on playing. I missed the Roenick answer, but Cheli said he was wanting to play until he was 50. Or until he has a chance to play with his son Dean in the nhl. And when asked, where he wanted to play, he said he wanted to play for Glen Sather and the New York Rangers. Typically I wouldn't post something like this withoud a valid link, but the 'nhl home ice channel' on xm has always been real reliable with their info.

excellent read. thanks for sharing.