Cern

Though in all honest, why do people insist that Oz is going to simply 'turn it on' come the post-season? Hasek was weak all last season, he clearly wasn't able to just flip a switch once the first round began.

If HNIC can spend DECADES obsessing over the Leafs, I wouldn't put money on it.

Even dumping 3mil would we have enough cap space?

Took long enough. The Penguins are a mess. To think that a team that's almost certain to have two top-three scorers might not even make the playoffs is laughably inexcusable.

Funny, I say the exact same thing about the US team in basketball and generally all it produces is hypocritical rage.

When the Olympics were originally held in Ancient Greece they would actually temporarily suspend wars so that the games could be held without interruption. I'm willing to bite my tongue for three weeks, if only for being in the Olympic spirit.

Is Helm (or Leino for that matter) even eligible next year? They've already played games for the Wings.

I wound up sating my own curiosity on how a home-colour reversal of the WC jersey would look Kinda hard to get a real good perception of it but I actually think it looks better predominantly white. Also, I'm wondering what the story is on those two jerseys furthest to the left. I can see some kind of shoulder patch on them (presumably the Habs Centennial patch) but they're not being used as centennial vintage jerseys this season.

REAL classy there

I'd be curious to see how those jerseys look with a predominantly red colour scheme. I'd love to see them as thirds but ideally it should be something in home colours.

Probably a team mascot of sorts. 3-1 Boston.

They're using their vintage jerseys twice each in the season, these'll actually be out for another game. The stripes are a little bit too much though, indeed. The centennial throwbacks I really like are their 1915 uniforms (the ones with the red CA logo).

Ah hahahaah. I think you vastly overestimate a large number of GMs in this league. Besides, some teams are going to overpay just because they need to clear the cap floor. if he talks with a team with a trigger-happy front office I see 6mil being a very plausible overpayment.

Keep this up and the largest national network for NHL coverage is going to be ATDHE.

I'll be pulling for Boston, they're already my Eastern team by virtue of my dad.

Pff, I think you'll get that most anywhere EXCEPT Detroit. Same kinda thing happens here in Vancouver, when they beat Detroit in overtime that one game in November the fans acted like Luongo had just lifted the Cup over his head.

Happens more often than it probably feels. Remember in 06-07 when we spent most of the season behind Nashville? Annoying that they managed to get that one point, but as long as the Wings get back on their winning ways I can live with them losing in OT.

I'm hoping that the Wings remember their third-period collapse last time they played the Penguins and go out there looking to get their honor back.

Where have you been?! I've missed your GDTs.

What has been a lot more reassuring for me is the Wings penalty kill. The Oilers aren't exactly a PP juggernaut but Detroit has looked MUCH better with the man down than they have recently.

I'm feeling Ty's going to make it 6 for the shutout count tomorrow.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/attendance?year=2009 SEVEN of the bottom ten teams in the league are sunshine, every last one of them with a ticket sale % of less than 90 - some as low as the high 70s. And these are just the raw ticket release counts - the number of tickets not simply given away is going to be lower, and in turn so is the number of people who actually bother to attend. The only Canadian franchise that ISN'T in the top ten teams in the league is Edmonton, and that's only because Rexall Place is a tiny, ancient arena - bump it to a 19000-seat arena and you'd probably STILL have sellouts. Furthermore all of those franchises are hosting games with 100% capacity - or even higher. f***, the only sunshine teams that are in the top half of the league in attendance are Washington and Dallas, barely edging themselves into 14th and 15th place. And it's not like recent success of those franchises is doing anything to build a fanbase either - Carolina has terrible attendance, and Anaheim could barely get enough locals interested in their cup win to fill the Pond's parking lot. Obviously it isn't cut and dry - the Islanders and the Devils in particular prove the major exceptions, and frankly I'd be just as happy to see one of them gone as I would the Thrashers - but the trend is overwhelmingly clear that this idea there exists some kind of geographical parity is bogus. You're right: it's not a matter of hockey belonging only to winter climates, it's a matter of the only people in warmer climates that aren't emphatically making a statement that they aren't interested is the sponsors. Hockey has been, is, and always will be considered a joke in the South.

*doubleposted*

How? There are literally a million better things to do in Vegas than watch a hockey game. Honestly I'd just rather see the franchise fold if that's the only other alternative. The league has already overextended itself in the talent pool and in fan following.

http://www.jetsowner.com/howmuch.htm Somebody's already done the math on this. I've never been particularly mathematically inclined so I don't know if there's something wrong with these numbers, but they suggest numbers much lower than everyone is eager to throw around. I also don't buy this argument that it would never work in Winnipeg because 'it didn't work the first time'. The Bay Area didn't work the first time. Minnesota didn't work the first time. Ohio didn't work the first time. Colorado didn't work the first time. Atlanta didn't work the first time. Were the same fatalist remarks made when the Sharks or the Wild were established? That said, I'm curious as to whether there's any potential for a team in Seattle. It could fill a nice space vacated by the Sonics and there's lots of potential to build a big rivalry with Vancouver.