Opie

The only question I can answer is 3. Lets use Penner in this situation, he now has no options the options lie with the ducks. They match the offer and he is a duck, they don't match the offer and he is an oiler. The fact that he signed the offer letter puts him in this spot. He can not negotiate with either team he is waiting. 3a. He is signed for whatever the offer that was tendered is. Again with Penner he is an oil for 5 years 4.3 mil or he is a Duck for 5 years 4.3 mil. I don't believe they have to give him a better offer just match the old one. some one correct me if I am wrong.

If he can't match he gets draft choices. This is one of those catch 22's. In about 3 years this will be regular practice and it will even out the contracts. Be patient look at how the NFL has done it, and from what I can see the NHL salary cap structure is almost a spitting image of the NFL one. If teams are trying to get back a Lowe by offering his young talents an over the top offer sheet then they are screwing themselves over as well. Lowe may be an ass, but he is completely right to do this. The cap will hit a ceiling soon, it can't keep jumping by 3 mil a season, the league can't afford it. When that happens these over payments will stop. Even for the top guys. Right now Holland is playing the game probably the best because he is not pissing people off, he is following the gentleman's rules. But Lowe is pissed, he supposedly had a player signed, then that guy pulls out of the contract. He is doing his best to get talent there. Would you rather he take his lumps and do nothing to help the team.

I believe Bol got one shift, he got on the ice, fell, skated back to the bench. It was seriously a 5-10 second shift. But you are right they spent the entire first period trying to get the canoes he was wearing for skates to fit right. That guy looked awkward playing B-ball, let alone trying to skate!!

The cap is only 50.3 and they only have 6 days left to get rid of those guys. I don't see people clambering to get any of those guys. Marchant is overpaid and on his way out of the league, he is their Maltby. While he provides a skill set needed, he is not what he once was. Bryzgalov is the only one I see them being able to shop, and even then he will not garner a lot of attention. Then if Burke does find away to get rid of those guys he now has no cap room to sign any players all season, and he will have to bank on Neidermayer retiring next year to sign Getzlaf, Perry, and Ryan. Either way this is an unbelievably tough position he has been put in by Lowe and I love it!!!!! And holy s*** if Giguere gets hurt or slumps like last year. They would probably try to get MacDonald from the B's (just kidding).

So I was doing my "just got to work and want to check out sports scores" roaming through the Yahoo sports pages and the main article is about the class that Tony Gwynn and Cal Jr. Possessed when they played. So funny how this years HOF class in baseball is some of the most respected players that the game has ever seen. Meanwhile back at AT&T Ballpark captain steroids is trying to swing his way past the all time home run record and the Commisioner of the game (as Jon Stewart mentioned on the daily show) has to find constitutional grounds to attend his games. My how the face of sports in America has changed. I was watching the Red Sox last night and they were playing the Indians, I started to feel bad. Because I don't know anything about travis Hafner, but when I looked at his massive torso and his enlarged cranium, instantly I was like Roidhead!!! Gone are the days of Ripken and Gwynn, Magic, Micheal, and Larry, Gone are the Days of Bradshaw and Namath (wow football turned thug and dirty a long time ago LT, The whole Cowboy team), but the NHL still seems to have maintained its image, and that is hurting them more than it is helping them.

I would much rather pass on Neidermayer. A. I do not want the wings helping the Duck in any way shape or form, and this would allow them to match Penner's offer sheet, and sign two of their RFA's next year. B. I would much rather have the young guys get ice time and get acclimated to the NHL. C. With Cheli, Rafalski, and Lids back there the need for Neidemayer is less than for other teams. Markov would be a cheaper better fit. D. This would put the wings up against the cap like the Duck are, leaving no money for the top 6 forward this team needs. E. Every time I hear or type his name I have Animal House flash backs. I was looking up some Penner stats on the Umaine website and they said he is the first black bear to win the stanley cup. Not that Umaine is Minnesota or BU but I would have guessed that another black bear would have won it!

What Lowe is doing may be driving the price up for Penner and Vanek this year, but the effect this will have on the next couple of offseasons is a Positive. Teams will have to think twice before they can offer crazy salaries to guys like Hartnell, Bertuzzi (injury reasons), etc. If you have a gifted young player or two on your roster that is an RFA you no longer can wait it out and short change that player or hope an arbitrator will give said player a bad number. Now the teams will have to secure their players within their org before going out and spending on a UFA, and if that RFA wants to wait it out that team will have to offer less to UFA's. This will be a good thing trust me. It works in Football, although Football uses the Franchise Player tag so that a team can protect one player.

So I am looking at the signings and the roster. Am I the only one who gets the feeling that Maltby's spot in the roster might be at risk. He is one of the only guys they team can afford to trade, but I don't see him garning a lot in return. It seems like a lot of the guys invited to training camp (Hartigan, Vernasty ) and some of the youth (Ellis, Grigs maybe) seem to have the playing style to take over for Maltby, who really didn't do too much aggravating last year. Also with all of the youth looking to come up on D maybe a Maltby Lilja deal (lils has one year left right?) could be in the plans. Not going off of any rumors or anything just brainstorming here, because I have this weird feeling about malts!

Burke has only a few options here: -Sign Penner and hope neidermayer will play with at least a 2mil cut in his pay. 2 mil puts them just under the cap. But then next year he has no room at the cap and Neidermayer, or he has 4 mil to sign Perry and Getzlaf If Neidermayer retires. His contract is through to 09/10 (wow same as his brothers). -Let Penner go. Then he is stuck with only 2.05 mil to sign Getzlaf and Perry. And he will need another forward. -Let Penner go, and beg Selanne to come back for 2.05 mil and pray that he has no injuries and doesn't need to get a player of the wire or at the deadline. -Say the f*** with this I quit!! Either way to me it looks like that 2 year 4mil per year bad back he signed is going to cost him dearly. As someone else posted he is trying to play the game Holland played in 2002, just at the wrong time!!!

All of those things (except Tocchet) where on the ice issues, same with McSorely, or the fight between pistons and Pacers. It is the off the field/ice issues that are what makes these guys unbelievable. They want to use sports as a way to get out of the ghetto, but they continue to carry the thug attitude. You don't see a guy come over here from Kenya to play hoops and still run around new york with a spear do you no. He has the where with all to adjust his life to his new surroundings. If you live in the suburbs you are expected to have a certain behavior pattern. Certain things in the suburbs would be despicable in the ghetto and vice versa. But if a person says they want to play a sport to help them get out of whatever environment they were in. They should then leave that part of their personality behind as well, or they will never leave that environment. I know there are far more players that come from a horrible part of the world and live impoverished lives, and can act civil, it is not that it is an inherent life style. Just because you grew up that way doesn't mean you can't change. It is a life style choice that these guys are making, I guess is my point. Trading Places is a great movie that depicts how this change can happen.

Not sure on the name but here is a photo. Man that photo is friggin scary looking who would sleep with that. I almost shat my pants when my post generated.

Neidermayer woudl have to restructure his deal they are on the hook for 6.75 for the next 2 seasons as it stands.

Funny I was just about to post that you could be right with 51.3!

That is because fighting is used to police the game, and it is a part of the game a part of strategy. Look at the thread with Feds fighting. He wasn't a tough guy/fighter. But fighting is a tool to be used by NHL players. In other sports fighting is done out of emotion, or to show that you are not the wimp. Same as carrying a gun into a night club. It is done to show that you won't take crap from anyone. BTW I have slowly begun to hate the NBA. I grew up following guys like Larry Bird, Magic, Micheal, yes these guys had problems off of the field. But they were the same problems everyday people have, mistresses, gambling. But do you remember ever hearing a story about Jordan being busted with his Desert Eagle and firing shots into the ceiling of a club. NO, that is why I have a hard time with the New York media bashing Arod. I am not supporting infidelity however, it is a little less severe than say running a drug operation, training dogs to fight, or shooting at some one in the club.

According to NHLnumbers.com anaheim has 2.076Mil left. However that includes Neidermayer's 6.75. I believe the cap is 50.3 mil, but I could be wrong.

True lets see if his balls are as big as his mouth!!!

He has to overpay, he can't get players there any other way. 4 mil may be a touch much but this is a rookie who scored 45 points, played all 82 games and played a physical style of play on a defense first team. I doubt they match this with all of the players they have to account for next year. I would have tried this if I were in Lowe's position. I think in a couple of years you will see a lot more RFA's given offer sheets. It happens in other sports and doesn't impact anything. I know hockey is a little bit more of a gentleman's game than say football, but still it will take hold. Lowe is showing he is not afraid to do it. He is telling other GM's put your money where your mouth is or I will make these young guys an offer they can't refuse. Remember he is not forcing Burke to pay Penner more, he is forcing to decide if Penner is part of the future for this team. If it were Giguere than yes the offer is matched and the deal is dead, however it is Penner and now Burke has to think about how valuable Penner is to the Ducks.

A corked bat makes the bat lighter thus easy to generate more power. Yet it is not hollow so it dowsn't become more fragile. A curved hockey stick is like throwing a curve ball.

Well oddly enough Draper was plus 7 and Malts was -9, the lowest +/- on the team by 7. The only player with more than 26 games played close to him was even and that was Kronwall. I appreciate the role that Malts plays but how much agitating did he do last year? Did he really help shutdown the big lines from Calgary and San Jose, because to me it looked like Lids, Markov, Cheli, did most of that work. Remember Lids was Iginla's shadow for that series. Either way I am not arguing for the release of Malts or acting like he is the new Robert Lang, I am just saying it looks like they are bringing in guys that do what he does. AND I HAVE A WEIRD FEELING that is all. Just checking if I was the only one and apparently I am.

You're right because players like Jason Taylor would complain about the pats not doing enough to try to win if he were on their team. Oh wait never mind he does that about the Dolphins!!! And it seems to me that both the Pats and Wings have won something recently so it seemed a better comparrison.

Disliking Hudler is your right, however I ask why ? Hudler 76gp 15g 10a 25pts 16+/- 36PIM in 10:02 ATOI Malts 82gp 6g 5a 11pts -9+/- 50PIM in 13:11 ATOI Dats and Z as well as Franzen and Cleary have shown that they can play very well on the PK. Now I know stats aren't everyones thing, but looking at the stats above Hudler gives this team a lot of things that Maltby can't and if Franzen or Cleary can play the Maltby role what does he offer this team. Not saying that I hate Malts just saying it looks like the team is moving in a direction away from him. That was why I said I didn't think it would garner much but maybe a break in salary and a draft choice, remember the preds need some overpriced players to make the cap floor.

That was pretty impressive d by Rafalski

That's a scandal like me picking my nose at work is a scandal!!!!!!

Gotta jump in here on Penner's behalf, I have a Umaine player bias, but I will refrain from using any Umaine stats or play by him. When he was in Portland (the pirates are the ducks farm team), He had a game where he scored 4 goals in a come from behind win, and games where all he did was check. The point to that is he is the consummate role player, he will check if that is what you want and chip in on offense. He went undrafted out of college because he had to be a defensive minded player first under coach whitehead. He is big 6'4" 240, skates very well for his size and has good hands. Think of Bertuzzi before he had that huge season. No one really talked about him, and then he gets a gifted centerman and a very good winger and Bertuzzi is an all-star and people went ga ga overhim, until THE INCIDENT. Same thing applies to Penner, you put him with Dats or Z and watch the magic. He doesn't need to have more than limited playmaking skill to play with Dats or Z. Case in point look at Homer. I love what this guy brings to the team, but playmaking is not his specialty. Was Hully a great playmaker, Shanny?? Remember if you have an amazing talent at center that can score, create, dazzle, and deke, the wingers do not have to be as talented. If you have an average center your wingers need to help create more. Penner would be a great fit on this team. Will it happen, probably not. My second choice after him would be Cammallari and then Ryder, of the three. But again none of these will probably happen.

Yeah instead of pointing out that the NHL has "clean" athletes that aren't getting arrested and are representing their teams and their team's cities with class, he trashes the NHL for not being dirty enough. Listen I love the UFC, way better than boxing, but he covered the steroids issue with them for 5-7 paragraphs. Yet one sentence about the poor NHL. You are right he would have been better served to not mention them at all.