Opie

If he gives up a third this period do you pull him and screw with his head even more!

Because what has the org showed him in the past. They let Savard, one of the best playmaking centers in the game, walk, Hossa is gone, Heatley (whatever the reason, sad or not) is gone. What has the team ever done to show him they are trying to get him a cup? And what does signing autographs have to do with taking a pay cut for a sniff of the second round of the playoffs let alone a shot at the actual cup!!!! Watch Vinny go from TBL and then watch Ilya walk, if teams don't start trying to win the cup with more than a goalie and a top 10 forward, they will lose fans because the good players will leave, and none will want to stay there. They will go there for the money for a few seasons and then realize they want a cup. Granted Vinny got one and then like the Florida Marlins the team hit the s***ter!

OR... Does Kenny Holland make him next year's Marion Hossa.

Well it would have to be someone(s) worth at least 7 mil Mtl doesn't have any of those. So then two players at least, so Higgins + Plekanec + Koivu. (1.7 + 1.6 + 4.750) = 8.05 Bare with me here, Koivu is not the talent Vinny is, last year the fiasco with him saying the team wasn't good enough at the start of the season, and his contract expiring next season, Plekanec and Higgins are young and RFA's at season's end. Bring in Vinny and make him the 'C' and start a whole new regime. Granted mid season this is asking a lot for a team to overcome and not hit the s***ter, but to me and my make-believe franchise Vinny is worth it!

Of all people I agree with you and would love to see this happen. For no other reason than the sheer fear on the faces of everyone!!!! After he stands up he licks his thumb and pretends to come a mustache only to be heard saying: "Smell that, smells like somebody died" as he walks down the tunnel!! Johnny Ringo Style!!!

A few differences: Cheli was Gordie Howe dirty, in the corners close s***. Pronger is Chris Simon dirty, stepping on people, elbows to the face with distance, not right under your chin, 'three feet away and skating' distance. Cheli played in a much more physical era of Hockey in his prime than Pronger's prime. Cheli would answer for any of his transgressions from any one, not just an enforcer on another shift, some one then and there would take care of what he did. Biggest difference: The definition of dirty has changed and the league has cracked down on a lot of the things cheli did, slashes, spears, butt ending, ... the stuff in the corners. Cheli then changed his game, coincidently just as he got a little older and less full of piss and vinegar. The league has cracked down on Pronger's type of actions, stomping, elbowing, head hunting, however they have cracked down harder on others than they have Pronger. Even if the other offense happened before his and set a precedence.

NFM25 great point but still that is a lot of money to pick up this time of year. If say Vancouver did it thinking Sundin's money would be off the book (Not that they can fit him just an example) next season than it saves them the free agent market. I see him willing to go to a young team that is good now yet has some history, like the Habs, seeing as he is long term signed and already seen the calamity of a poorly run franchise. The Habs have history and pride (too bad that didn't help the leaves uh sorry leafs.) and are a relatively young team. He could be there for 10 or so years and become the next great Montreal Canadian which has got to sound better in his head than the next great Coyote or Wild or Hurricane. I wouldn't blame him if he said it has to be O6 or a team that has been around for more than 20 years. I mean sure he got to taste sweetness from the cup, but it was fleeting and I am sure he would like another taste. SIDE NOTE WARNING: Can you imagine rooting for a team that went from success to s*** in one year! I mean sure the Wings did it under the old Norris Regime but who on here remembers that, seriously lived it!? We are so lucky that this team is this good for this long!!! THANK GOD FOR THE ILLITCHES!! PIZZA PIZZA!

As this thread developed I thought of the comparison thread and how it should be Pronger V Stevens. But I also agree with this statement. And to the argument that is coming about the Hart, I would argue that cheli (edit)should could have a Conn Smythe to his name!!

1st Which current NHLer that plays full time is healthy? 2nd There is of course the theory that by him being a top line talent player on a second line that he sees less talented defensive players than top line talent. As evidence by last post season when he very rarely saw Z and Dats. 3rd Huet was picked up at the deadline, the team was fighting for the 8 spot before he showed up, did he help sure was he a big reason, no, AO was THE REASON! I am not saying Malkin doesn't deserve consideration but you brought up the comparison of them both working with similar talent, which IMO is very wrong. Malkin is a Hart candidate playing with a Hart winner, AO is a Hart winner playing with either has beens or could be's. Dramatic difference! But I can agree to disagree for the sake of the thread and sanity in general!!

WOW!!! That is a monster contract to try and trade, not just the $10 large, but the length, we are not talking about a rental here, whoever gets this guy (Habs) would be in it for the long haul. Now Vinny is a top forward in the league and should be healthy for years to come, but that is still a big chance to take!! The reward is high but so is the risk at 10 years almost $100 mil!

The problem with the "Thinning the Heard" philosophy (my own catchy name) is that it affects all teams in a very negative economic manner. I am behind contracting however it is going to be hard to pull off after the salary cap, not exactly easy before the salary cap, damn near impossible after wards. You are removing the lowest priced players (for the most part, first contracts excluded) and are going to have to force teams to sign higher priced leftovers, for lack of better term. So Jokinen is available from Pheonix, who can afford to add him? Take ANA for example, they could use the offensive boost, however their is no way in hell they can afford him under the cap, well maybe they could they do have about 75 FA's next season. Or a team like Det would have to trade away 4 younger or inferior players if they are even that lucky to fit him in. Unless they did a league wide salary restructure, like they did coming out of the lock out, I just don't see how a contraction is physically possible at this point and again I am behind the idea 100%, I think there are 4 too many teams. Which 4 to contract is a completely different argument and no matter who you pick would piss off 1000's!

Your post that I quoted was talking past tense as in last year (my assumption), last year who did AO have the remotely comes close to what Evgeni has??? Go ahead look it up I will wait. I will also wait for you to tell me what netminder AO has had that comes close to holding MAF's jock, does he play with another top 10 player in the league? AO has Feds (way past his prime), Semin (could be great but is a decent player right now), Green (looking good but is no Gonchar), so Surely you must be referring to Nylander and Poti as the top talent he has with him, so you are still wrong Evgeni Malkin plays with way better talent than AO, that would be like picking Dats or Lids or Z for Hart over AO, he is doing great things with no other top level talent on his team. Evgeni has: Crosby, Gonchar, MAF! Hell he has Crosby, whose name you may have heard mentioned in talks about who is the best player in the league, along side of AO and Malkin (and others). And Crosby has been healthy all year to date. Last year Malkin carried the team in Crosby's abscence, give it to him last year, fine, this year he has better weapons without a doubt than AO, not even a question. And AO is doing things not done in decades is a lot more impressive than a guy doing great things with an all world talent on his team/line!

Ott takes 3 dumb penalties leading to 2 goals one of which will destroy all of the moment Dallas has for the game and the other will lead to another arbitrary goal that has no affect on the game because it is already out of hand. The third penalty will happen with less than 2 minutes left in the game and will be an attempted cheap shot at Kronwall which will leave the stars wishing they had Avery back, to start a fight with Ott!

Malkin has Crosby, Ovechkin has who again??? Bad analogy

Hunwick may put up a stink in the Calder but unless Mason absolutely s***s the bed it is his to be had at this point!

Would you also take Scott Stevens over Ray Bourque?

Talk about Mountain out of a mole hill!! I thought the AO hit of a couple of weeks ago was a suspend able offense, but this is two guys skating into one another and the bigger one winning! Sure contact with the arm/elbow/shoulder or whatever may have occurred but unintentionally. Now usually I would be quick to point a finger at Pronger and call him a goon, but not this time!!

Ok, cool so 1 team could fold. Thanks for the info!

My question would be how does the league only contract one team at a time. Wouldn't scheduling dictate that 2 teams be removed? Either one from each conference or two teams and a conference restructuring?

Link! Thoughts? Discussion?

EDIT: I reread your post and realized I misread it, sorry to argue with you when you weren't disagreeing with me! Ignore the rest but I won't delete it like it never happened. MY BAD! NO!!! Short answer: 1. 3 goals is not a blowout in the NEW NHL, it was 4-1 with 19 minutes left at the time of the hit. 2. Kronwall should take that hit everyday of the week twice on Sunday, and 4 times IF it were a blow out. 3. Ribiero skated into the zone watching his pass, ask Paul Kariya how that worked for him, I'm dead, wait I'm alive! Long answer: What Ott should have done was walk over to Ribiero, slap him across the face, ask him if he is awake yet, and then promptly, while yelling ask him: It is not like Kronwall went out of his way to hit the guy, Ribiero nonchalantly skates into the zone, these guys are being taught no lead is safe in the new NHL, the wings have lost 4 goal leads let alone what at the time was a 3 goal lead. In the NEW NHL that is hardly a blow out and a lead like that can be overcome easily in a period, just look at the Pens OT game with the Wings. Ribiero's fault for watching his pass, Kronwall should 100% of the time take that hit in that scenario, Ott should be upset at his own guy not 55.

I was more referring to long term. Gonchar's deal is up next season. After the other two they have nothing.

Dallas is not that good are they!?! Dats WOW!!

Yeah, but are you biting it with the intent to snack on it? Kind of like punching yourself your body will prevent you from really doing it, unless you really try to remove your finger tip you will always come up a little short. Well, if you really bit the top off then you would be a little short!! Waits for the groans.... wait for it... bad joke I know!!

You know I left that one alone because I couldn't come up with a nice way to word it!