MacK_Attack

The Pens will announce tomorrow that Sidney Crosby will be their captain next season, making him the youngest captain in NHL history. http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=209375&hubname=nhl

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/article.jsp...531_001140_2400

I think he probably is. Regardless of the letter on his jersey, he's been "the guy" in Pittsburgh for two seasons now. It was only a matter of time before this formality was put out of the way.

Claude Provost & Ted Hampson were both older than Bill Masterton when they won said award. Just a little FYI.

Bettman can't make a team move or fold (just ask Bud Selig how much of a pain in the ass unions can be when you try that one) a team. He is simply the representitive of the owners, he does not have the power to move or fold teams on his own. The owners of the respective teams that have been deemed "unhealthy" by some are the ones that ultimately control their own destiny. Bettman can't just call up Alan Cohen after the lockout to tell him that he's moving the Panthers. If Cohen still wants to make a go of it in Miami, then Bettman has to support him. Bettman is basically asking for a new job if he goes out and says that the game isn't working in Southern markets and that those teams should move to more hockey-friendly areas. He has to support his employers, the owners. The Board of Governors have the power in the end, but the individual owner has to throw in the towel, first.

With at least one season left in Nashville, it would be horrible PR to announce now that there's a chance of anything happening other than the Preds staying. Legally, they can't leave....yet. Until the time comes when they can legally leave, I don't think you'll see Bettman or Balsillie change their respective tunes. They'll keep saying what they have to say to keep lawyers on all sides happy. You could see in Bettman's remarks that he's already blaming the demise of the Preds on the corporate ticket buyers (or lack thereof). He's planting the seeds now so that he can stay squeaky clean when the time comes to move the club. He can just blame it on the suits and move on. Bettman knows that he has to go back to Canada. A team (or two) in Canada can drive revenues even higher because it'll add to the value of Canadian TV rights, nevermind that the Canadian dollar (which should be par or more valuable than the American dollar soon) now allows for Canadian teams to not only survive, but to make lots of money. It used to be that Canadian teams took a huge hit because they took in Canadian money, but had to pay salaries in the much more valuable American currency. It could soon be that they will be getting more bang for their buck, which serves to make a Canadian move that much more attractive. Of course, Gary can't admit to such things until the time comes to move a team or two. He has to tow the company line (30 teams in their current markets) until the dynamics change. If Balsillie was looking to keep the team in Nashville, he would've got the team dirt cheap. He paid a premium because he has all the intentions in the world of heading north as soon as he can.

Here's the map of the general area of where the land was purchased..... Right off the 401 and just east of Hespeler Rd.....the perfect spot for an NHL arena in the K-W/Cambridge area.

To further the Kitchener move..... http://www.cambridgetimes.ca/cam/news/news_792440.html

I met Dmitry Yushkevich in a park in Toronto a few times (He lived somewhat close to me) when he had the triplets out to play. He told me the reason they shipped off Markov was because he was starting to hang around addicts and the such. During the summer of '01, he really started getting into it hardcore, and that's when Danny's family and agent asked that he be moved away from those people that were introducing him to that kind of stuff. I can only assume he's been off it ever since, I'm not totally sure.

The Leafs paid the most to revenue sharing (in excess of $10 million), which makes them the biggest market. In terms of MLSE, I think a team coming in pushing the Leafs for corporate dollars and ticket sales could only help MLSE sit up and take notice. I think it'd be for the better for the Leafs, and especially for the fans.

A Kitchener team would essentially be a 2nd Toronto team. Putting them just down the road avoids being in the Leafs territorial zone. The NHL is the only major North American sport that doesn't have two teams in its biggest market.

Haven't been paying attention to Alberta recently, have you? Alberta has oil, and those teams are rolling in money. it's chump change in Alberta to buy a hockey ticket. When the Canadian teams left (Quebec & Winnipeg), there was no salary cap, no revenue sharing and the Canadian dollar was at all-time lows. There was just no way to stay afloat. There's "cost certainty" and the Canadian dollar is nearing par (92.25 cents US) with the American dollar. It's completely viable to have a team move to Canada, especially with billionaire pockets funding it. There's far more than enough corporate support in Southern Ontario to have another team. That situation has been handled with typical MLSE arrogance. They've been served some humble pie over the last two seasons, because people just wouldn't pay $50/ticket to see AHL hockey. They've cut the ticket prices way back, but I don't think it's enough. That, and the Ricoh Coliseum is a pain in the ass to get to via Toronto transit.

Let him smoke all of the cigarettes he wants, just as long as he's off the coke. That's what got him a one-way ticket out of Toronto.

I believe it is, but I'm not certain of that. Atlanta is close to all of those other Southeast Division teams, so it wouldn't make sense to put them in a different conference and move somebody out of the Atlantic into the Southeast....it would be interesting to see how they work this one.

If he didn't want to move a team to Ontario, he'd probably target teams with slightly more stablility than Pittsburgh and Nashville. Moving a team East is a logistics nightmare for the NHL....there's nobody to move West....maybe Atlanta, but even that wouldn't work too well.

The NHL needs to go back to the divisional playoff series format. It's pretty much a waste to have this divisionally-heavy schedule and then not even have divisional teams face each other in the playoffs. Ottawa/Buffalo are the only two divisional teams to face each other in this years playoffs. Think back to the 70s, 80s and early 90s.....the playoffs were always awesome no matter who played, because the first two rounds were guaranteed to have divisional rivals playing each other. It was a virtual guarantee that every series had deeply engrained hatred long before the first puck was ever dropped. Nowadays, it takes three or four games to get the hatred cranked up, and by then, the series is basically over. If you're going to have divisional teams play each other 2,305 times in the regular season, at least make sure they'll meet in the playoffs. Maybe then the regular season matchups will be interesting the next year.

You have to move somebody West, first. Atlanta is further West than both Detroit & Columbus, but I don't think they're switching conferences anytime soon. I think if Florida moved (one team I think that's closer to moving than many think) then you might see a team moved to the East, but it would probably be Columbus.

There's never been a European trained player to captain a team to the Stanley Cup, but there's been two European-born players to do so. Chuck Gardiner (Great Britain) & Johnny Gottselig (Russia) both captained Chicago to Stanley Cups. There's probably been more, but details are sketchy in the really early years as to where/when some players were born.

I'm alright with it. He played well.

Yep, CBC Calgary will for sure.

He dropped the gloves first, but never even tried to throw a punch. Armstrong missed his punch and Comrie threw him to the ice.

I'm relatively sure that this won't get past the 4th OT....somebody has to make that fatal mistake sooner or later......right?

She won't. It's rigged so that she picks Canadian teams.

Schedule will be finalized this evening when they determine if it's the Islanders or Leafs playing against Buffalo. Obviously, if the Leafs get in, they need to set the schedules so that CBC/TSN don't have Canadian teams playing at the same time.

EAST (1) Buffalo Sabres vs. (8) Toronto Maple Leafs or New York Islanders (2) New Jersey Devils vs. (7) Tampa Bay Lightning (3) Atlanta Thrashers vs. (6) New York Rangers (4) Ottawa Senators vs. (5) Pittsburgh Penguins WEST (1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (8) Calgary Flames or Colorado Avalanche (2) Anaheim Ducks vs. (7) Minnesota Wild (3) Vancouver Canucks vs. (6) Dallas Stars (4) Nashville Predators vs. (5) San Jose Sharks