mmamolo

Agreed. I'm not that big on nostalgia anyways and even if I were, cap-wise it makes zero sense. I say the Thrashers sense him and Afinoganov to the Devils and they can join Kovalchuk and make an all ex-Thrasher line

Maybe I'm wrong but I dont know that anyone is really saying that they are saying they'd flat out cheer against Canada as a whole somply because of a few guys they hate. I think it's more they would rather not see those players they hate succeed but that doesn't imply Canada as a team can't succeed. For example, for everyone who hates Crosby but wanted Canada to beat Russia the other night it must have been pretty sweet to see Canada light up the Russians without Crosby getting like 4 points and dominating all night long. You can cheer for a team while not wanting certain players to stand out. It's kind of a double edged sword but I never said it made any sense....it is what it is. It's kind of like many ppl on this site love Jonathan Toews but since he plays for our rival Blackhawks probably want to see Tows light up the NHL and put up sick numbers and play super well all while the Blackhawks lose. It's tough to have it actually happen but that's what we'd all like to see.

I was thinking about this the other day.... Everyone knows how much Yzerman loves Toews and as these Olympics have progressed it's becoming more and more apparent how much Babcock is starting to appreciate his abilities as well. It's really becoming more abundantly clear how unfortunate it is that Toews ended up re-signing with Chicago when he did as I am sure Yzerman and Babcock would have pushed hard for Toews to land in Detroit this summer one way or another. That being said, the Wings usually find a way to get what they need - Jason Williams being last summer's exception ha ha

I think it all depends on your perspective. Personally I've always been a fan of the bad guys. I'll be the first to admit that a guy like Getzlaf or Perry aren't the classiest of players out there and yeah if we were discussing Corey Perry I'd say he's a whiney, chippy little f***** but it has nothing to do with him being a good player and beatin gup on the Wings. I just happen to be one of those guys who cheers for the bad guys. As much as I love the Wings I've always liked guys who are able to beat up on the Wings too - don't ask me why. I really like the Ryan Getzlaf (despite his b.s) and I always loved Peter Forsberg and Adam Deadmarsh. So it had nothnig to do with being Wing killers. To me it's more about integrity than it is about being chippy or classless. What's always pissed me off about both Pronger and Niedermeyer is that they hide beyond the bulls***. I like the fact they both have mean streaks (Pronger's is obviuosly far bigger) and that at times they both straddle the line but what grinds my gears is that everyone rushes to defend them and says they're just good Canadian boys playing hard and had no ill intent. I remember Niedermeyer throwing that elbow at Datsyuk in the playoffs and than playing innocent and that was a load of s***. Just call it like it is and I can respect you. Same with Pronger when he elbowed Holmstrom in the back of the head or when he stomped his skate down on the back of Kesler's leg and played it off like they were accidents and he couldn't avoid these things. It's that type of s*** that makes me have zero respect for those guys. I find guys like Getzlaf to play in a similar fashion but to me he's a no nonsense, no excuse kind of guy. He plays hard and loose with the rules because he knows it'll give him the advantage and when I played I was similar. I wouldn't go so far as to say I was dirty but when the time called for it I could be chippy. As far as the original question goes, I am Canadian, and I do find myself cheering for guys like Getzlaf, Staal, Nash, Doughty, Weber, Keith, Toews and any other player I thought deserved to be on the team (including Niedermeyer and Pronger despite having no respect for them) simply because I am Canadian. However, when it comes to hockey I'm not the most patriotic person out there. As I said, I always like the bad guys. I always cheer for Russia when Canada plays Russia in hockey. I just happen to like the players more. The only reason this year that's been different is because of Yzerman, Holland, and Babcock.

If it's old news, who cares. There are always ppl on this boards who haven't things and this is such a cool and interesting story so for the ppl who come to this forum who haven't heard this story it'd be sweet for them to come across it. Besides, as badass as Bobby Ryan already is, this story just makes him that much better.

I'll read the blogs when I can bud

What Milbury was saying about how the Russians played was true - they didn't play with heart or grit and they tried to get by on talent and skill alone. Whether you think the term eurotrash is offensive or not there are ppl out there that do and it's just not a term that is accepted on national television. So despite having a point, Milbury is an idiot for saying waht he said. What's funny though is the complete bias you see all over hockey broadcasts. After an awesome clean hit by Semin, Dan Boyle tracks him down and slew foots him while Pierre McGuire is singing his praises as a good, tough, hockey play. If a Russian had slew footed a Canadian player McGuire would have had an aneurysm. It's all bull s*** when appealing to the average, uninformed fan out there who just wants to hear the announcers jerk off the popular player of the day - hence all the canadian media loving off Sidney Crosby for accomplishing even the most menial tasks. Dan Boyle's slew foot was just that, a slew foot - one that McGuire and countless other hockey analysts have given Ovechkin s*** for doing on countless occassions. If it's dirty when a Russian does it, it's dirty when a Canadian does it. And for the record, I'm Canadian. I'll be the first to admit that there are a number of less than classy Canadians out there but there certainly are less than classy Americans out there too. The point is not to generalize. I persaonlly really like the American hockey team and happen to dislike a ton of the players on the Canadian team but that doesn't mean I'd go so far as to generalize and call the team as a whole either classy or unclassy. The point is we could both make a list of classy and unclassy Canadians and Americans. This whole thread was made to discuss Mike Milbury and Jeremy Roenick - two of the least classy Americans out there (granted they're not on the American team, just announcers). But the point is just because I find them unclassy doesn't mean I find all Americans, or all Americans on the hockey team to be unclassy.

Agreed. However, I do have to say that in the original poster's second scenario I'd much rather see Bertuzzi-Filppula-Franzen tried out with Miller-Williams-Cleary. I feel like Cleary would give that third line some added grit and heart to help out Miller carry WIlliams who sometiems lacks that effort and grit.

I agree that changes the D pairings could help a lot but I'm not necessarily sold on Stuart-Rafalski either. I would absolutely put Kronwall and Lidstrom together but I would mind seeing some juggling with Stuart/Lilja, Stuart/Ericsson, Stuart/Rafalski, etc etc until we find the best combination. I think it's fair to admit that Rafalski has been really impressive in the Olympics thus far.

32 Teams Even though it's a crappy Eklund blog it does raise an interesting situation to think about. It'd be interesting to know ppl's thoughts on adding two additional teams (as the blog points out potentially a second team in Toronto and a Quebec team) and what they'd think about conference realignments. How would you envision the the playoffs working? Who would be in which division? Who has preferences? Personally I don't think I'd necessarily want, nor be opposed, to add two teams but for the sake of argument why not. Based on geographical location I broke up the league into what I would imagine the divisions to be. I didn't name them but if any one wants shoot out some suggestions or make your own divisions or whatever. NHL Map Pittsburgh Philadelphia Boston Toronto Montreal Ottawa Buffalo Quebec Washington New Jersey New York Rangers New York Islanders Tampa Bay Carolina Florida Atlanta Dallas Minnesota Toronto2 Chicago Nashville Detroit Columbus St Louis Calgary Vancouver Colorado Edmonton San Jose Phoenix Los Angeles Anaheim As the article indicates I think they'd go back to divisional playoffs. I think you'd have 4 teams from each division make the playoffs (or 5 with a by but I hate the idea of aby in hockey) with the division champs meeting in the conference finals. Thoughts?

Stevkrause I generally see eye-to-eye with you so I probably wont be making fun of you. It's not like your Carman or someone. Either way, I dont know how old his kids are but I feel like they're probably not in college yet. But ya you might be right - by now they may be locked in. Lidstrom for PM - he's got my vote That is the funniest thing I have ever read on this site - you may be my new favourite poster

As sad as the day will be when he does retire that would really be amazing if that happened. Sadly, I sincerely doubt that he'd want that. There's always been talk of him wanting to go home to Sweden and all of that. That being said, I'm all for the idea. I think Lidstrom could become one of the best D coaches around

I live in Toronto but I go down to Detroit for games all the time. The Greek Town parking is definitely a good option but me, being the idiot that I am, rarely get there with enough time. I usually come out of the Windsor-Detroit tunnel, bust a quick left on Jefferson, Right on Washington and then super quick Left on W Congress. There's a small parkign lot on 1st st. It's $10 flat rate. It's literally 2 minutes fromthe Joe. Plus half the fun is walking up the steps and crusing through the sea of fans and yelling at the other teams fans in some predrink craziness. Although, the skywalk is sweet too. Getting beers outside is rad. I say just get there as early as possible and go explore. Just don't get lost roaming through Cobo Hall....that's the worst.

Even if his play had dropped so dramatically, like some in here like to try and convince us all of, his leadership and hockey IQ are so strong those traits alone would be worth keeping him around for. The mentoring he'd be able to provide guys like Jonathan Ericsson and Jakub Kindl (and maybe even Brendan Smith) with would be absolutely invaluable. Now, the fact that Lidstrom's play hasn't dropped off nearly that much, if at all, only furthers the fact he should and will be back. This whole dance happened before his last contract too. Nick has never particularly liked the spotlight on him and will wait until after the season to re-sign. In my humble opinion Nick will re-sign right before July 1 somewhere in that $4.5-5M/yr range for one season.

Personally, I am totally against moving Filppula for the following reasons: 1. His contract was structured in such a way that yes he was slightly overpaid in years 1 and 2 but in the years 3-5 we receive a player worth more than his salary 2. He is one of the most versatile centres in the league. He is able to fill in as an offensive talent on the second line or as a shut down centre on the third. 3. When he came into the league he hadnt physically matured and was pushed around. He entered the league at a similar stature to Datsyuk. He has since began to physically mature and can no longer be pushed around. He will continue to strengthen and that will only improve his overall game. 4. At his age there are very few players in this league who were big parts to Stanley Cup winning teams as he was. He still has room to continue to grow and he will be a big part of the core of this team for years to come.

I interpreted the article this way as well. I thought it implied he'd take a $3M pay cut - hence a salary of $4.45M a yr. In my opinion I think we'll see LIdstrom sign one year deals from here on out. I, along with some other posters, think Nick has a couple more years left (maybe even three) but I can't see him making that commitment - nor can I see Holland. We all know 35+ y.o contracts are a big gamble no matter who the player. With an nagging elbow injury that conceivably could end Nick's career at any time I can't really imagine Holland agreeing to a three year deal with Nick. One year deals here on out.

I think he should have been on this team.

Isn't Columbus in the EST zone as well? I'm no geography wiz so I could be wrong. Even if they are they would have a bit less distance to travel when going out west though.

Travel costs aside I am in favour of this. I don't think rivalries are necessarily built based on geographical location. I love the way MLB and the NFL are set up with the AL/NL and AFC/NFC systems in place. I would much rather see a different alignment. Plus, it would give the NHL more flexibility in setting divisions up and maximizing their marketing opportunities and everything else. As usualy, I'm basically on the same page Stevkrause

Agreed. Cap-wise it doesnt make sense plus after all the injuries it doesnt make sense to throw in the towel on ppl after we've waited all this time. That being said, it's still interesting to consider possibilities when players become available. Besides, we have seen splashes come out of left field before.

Even though I love the potential that Nathan Horton has as a big strong power forward of all the FLorida players I think I'd like Stephen Weiss in Detroit the most. He's 26, locked up for another 3 seasons at $3.1M and shoudl be just shy of a point per game guy. Granted, he's not exactly a goal machine but I think he could do wonders in Detroit. Obviously it won't be happening (bc of cap, Lilja and any other number of reasons) but for any combinations of Williams, Lebda, Meech, or whatever would be rad.

Maybe he still has a house out there from his days playing for the Coyotes...

Looking at the map obviously it seems like there are more teams that should fall in the East than the West. That being said with teams like Detroit, Columbus, Minnesota and Chicago in all relatively close distance the second Toronto team could fit in the West. Plus, it's kind of like the Mets and Yankees. It could be weird having them in the same conference. That being said you could have a great rivalry with them in the same conference. I only thought of putting them in the West to create the 16 and 16 balance. But it could work out however you wanted. Based on the article part of the motivation was to further rivalries so I would imagine the regular season schedule would also reflect this. With 8 teams in each division I would imagine you'd play the other 7 maybe 5 or 6 times. Then splitting the among the league somehow. I think the article implied you'd still have conferences (East and West) so I would imagine the schedule would reflect that to some degree as well. The way I see it the schedule could work one of two ways. I'm sure we've all heard lately the NHL has been considering getting rid of 1 or 2 preseason games and expanding the regular season. Under the new realignment here are the two schedules I could see making sense: 83 Game Season 7 Divisional Opponents x 5 Games Each = 35 Games 8 Conference Opponents x 2 Games Each =16 Games 16 Opposite Conference Opponents x 2 Games Each = 32 Games TOTAL 83 Games 84 Game Season 7 Divisional Opponents x 4 Games Each = 28 Games 8 Conference Opponents x 3 Games Each =24 Games 16 Opposite Conference Opponents x 2 Games Each = 32 Games TOTAL 84 Games

That's definitely true but that doesnt mean it's not an interesting idea to think about.

That's definitely true. There would be pros and cons acquiring either Afinoganov or Kozlov. Kozlov would present cap issues while Afinoganov would take more to get. It's not surprising. At the time though I could certainly understand how ppl wouldnt have wanted to take a chance on him. Obviously his play, to this point in the season, may have changed a lot of opinions. But you're right, most on this site were totally against it for the likes of Moen, Malholtra, Grier etc. You're referring to when you start the season with some cap space, say for example $1M, and since the trade deadline falls approximately at the 75% mark of the season you are then able to take on a player with an annual of $4M. A general rule of thumb is to take the cap space you have available (using the annual numbers) and multiply by 4.