dirtydangles

HAHAHAHA i like the word play there. They should just throw a mini one next to the board for jokes.

makes sense to have each team list divers from the other 29 teams and then the ones that stick out (over 50% of teams list) above the rest go on the list regardless of how talented they are.

When you see him, tell Hank "Boogidieboogidieboo" for me, he'll know what it means.

Ya I don't think a lot of people would boo scotty or mark out of respect during a cup presentation. you always get a few uneducated assholes though.

All I care about is that it was a former player or GM or somebody involved in the game. Somebody needs to care about the sport itself when all the money talks are being thrown around. I'm not saying that this person should side with the players at all, its just somebody to remind the owners what is realistically an option when negotiating with the players.

http://redwings.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=639907

It would be great if they both played amazing and displaced Franzen's lazy ass from the top 6 and made him expendable. Thats my dream. The REAL question is: what number do you think Brunner should wear? 96 belongs to homer whether or not he plays. its just too soon to recirculate #96. Id like to see him in 88, i think it would look cool.

the year after this one will hopefully be a transition year, one in which we start being called "up and coming" and "youthful." This is likely when we see almost all of Jarnkrok, Pulks, Tatar, Nyquist, Smith all up full time on the team with Sheahan knocking on the door too. Just wait, the news reporters that know jack about the wings will all be changing their predictions soon after this season after they see all the fresh meat we have been marinating for years...

what would happen to our player development though? even if we put a bunch of our guys in, this would go against EVERYTHING we do in holding our prospects back so they can "get meaningful minutes." I say our roster boys should stay far away from GR and let our guys there continue with their stuff... would we just stuff all our prospects in toledo?

isn't there only 50 games in the SEL though? thats not excessive by any stretch. I think it would be important for guys that age to keep the rust off and maintain their bodies.

would our GM have any influence on this? like could holland ask Z to go to Brynas instead of Timra where he played his european career? I assume no, because there is no team control over the players if a lockout happens but it would make sense to do this.

the only problem is that Bettman would be considered the arbitrator as commissioner in all likelihood. and we all know what he wants.

I posted in another thread that it would be cool to get some of our guys playing with our prospect talent in europe. Jarnkrok is in Brynas and Z could possibly head there with Franzen. Fil could go to Jokerit to play with Pulks and develop some chemistry. I just think it would be good to make lemonade with these lemons and get our prospects accustomed to the boys early. Not to mention Jarnkrok and Pulks could be making the team the year after the lockout...

I think we will see Z and Dats really step it up (85+points each) with the absence of Lids and guys like Fil, Kronner, Cleary will also have bigger effects than in the past. Maybe Franzen steps up? who knows...

Its all a game of chicken. Who panics first. Its going to have to be the owners this time. They have the most to lose in this scenario.

I never said Gary had control. But in spite of the financials, Bettman has failed in his other duties. NHL reffing and rules have been under huge scrutiny and the integrity of the game being questioned. He HAS failed to preserve public confidence. You always see Bettman providing threats in interviews to fans or owners or players etc rather than calmly saying that he hopes there can be an agreement or whatever. Look at his statement in Winnipeg where he called out the fanbase in an extremely negative way when they got their team back. He lacks the ability to make both sides happy. The job description isn't only to make the owners happy, the game as a whole must please the fans as well.

Anyone trying to blame Bettman fully is overreaching. Anyone saying Bettman is just a mouthpiece with no blame is understating. Gary Bettman makes 8M dollars a year to be a mouthpiece? I don't think so. From wiki: "”6.1 Office of Commissioner, Election and Term of Office The League shall employ a Commissioner selected by the Board of Governors. The Commissioner shall serve as the Chief Executive Officer of the League and is charged with protecting the integrity of the game of professional hockey and preserving public confidence in the League. The Board of Governors shall determine the term of office and compensation of the Commissioner. The Commissioner shall be elected a majority of the Governors present and voting at a League meeting at which a quorum was present when it was convened.“[1] In Section 6.3, his duties are spelled out as having "responsibility for the general supervision and direction of all business and affairs of the League", co-ordinates matters between member clubs and serves as the principal public spokesman for the League. The Commissioner also has authority over dispute resolution, League committees, interpretation of League rules, appointment of League staff, NHL financial matters, contracting authority, scheduling, officials and disciplinary powers.[2] The Commissioner also determines the date and places of Board of Governor meetings." Bettman has a HUGE influence on the league and isn't just some puppet to be controlled. He is providing a vision for the owner's and furthermore has FAILED at protecting the integrity of the game and preserving confidence in the league. The worst part of Bettman is the smug look he has on his face when he tells bad news to the fans. He LOVES playing the villain it seems. He isn't bothered by fans booing and doesn't seem to care too much for the sport of hockey at all, which is part of his job description. This is one of the main reasons I hate Bettman so much but all the rest stands alone too. P.S. if there is a lockout it would be cool if Z went to Brynas to play with Jarnkrok and groom him/develop a friendship. Fil could go play with Pulks in Jokerit to develop chemistry for the future.

i'm surprised. i still thought it would be a great learning experience etc regardless of whether or not there is a new season. guess not.

the players should have low balled them. bettman is acting as if they did anyways and now is gonna want more movement from the nhlpa towards what he would like. whatever concessions the players made over salary should be solidified and they can budge a bit on contract terms for length etc. thats all i can see the players giving up at this point without taking a huge blow.

lets just hope we dont see a million instances of russian fwds getting inside position on dmen on the rush. wayyyy too much of that last game.

what will happen is that fans will start hating the owners on the whole, especially if they reject a very fair offer from the nhlpa. then they just look greedy and will be vilified by the media and fans.

it blows my mind how bettman still has a job. literally nobody likes him and he brings heat to everyone who supports him. he doesn't give a bag of pucks what product ends up on the ice as long as there is money in the owner's pockets. this is like a bailout where banks survive by taking away a large portion of all their clients money.

Bettman is that you?

I think the RFA years should last only until 25. People are forced to play out a better portion of their career on a team and city that they may not be in love with. And if you don't like it then you can just be shelved long term (you don't have to be traded) whereas in the normal workforce you can quit and look for new work. I think there SHOULD be a limit on contract lengths. If you break down the average player's career there is an ideal max length of around 5 years. 18-23: gives GMs 2 RFA years to hammer out a new contract for an additional 5 years. 24-29: prime years for fwds. 30-35: veteran contributor fwd. dman in prime. 36-41: twilight of career. If you consider the general scheme of player development and contribution, it makes sense to have contracts max out at around 5 years. This way you don't get players in the twilight of their career being paid to play as a prime fwd. Then you don't have stupid situations where teams can't compete years down the road due to a stupid contract given out by a previous GM years ago that cap strapped the team (and could cause them to dip into revenue sharing). There should be a soft cap of +2mill on the ceiling that allows for teams to have some wiggle room in re-signing their talent (however twice this amount must be paid into revenue sharing) and you cannot use the soft cap in 3 consecutive years. 35+ contracts should be dealt with on a case by case basis. There should be a vote among GMs as to whether or not a team should pay for a player's cap hit depending on the contract situation. Say you signed a 35 year old to a 2 year contract in good faith and he was levelled by Chara and had a career ending concussion. That team shouldn't have to pay the cap hit for those 2 years as the contract was reasonable and the injury was not likely caused by his age. However if a team signs a 35 year old with a history of knee problems to a 5 year deal and he has set backs and cannot play anymore, the team should have known better and would be responsible for the risk they took when attempting to acquire that player. This is a system where GMs will keep each other honest and prevents GMs from using contract length to outbid other GMs. Owners and players should split the revenue 50/50 and call it even for good. You can't have hockey without one or the other. It sucks, but this should just be dealt with now so that this doesn't happen again.

if they cancelled this (especially that late) you can guarantee the nhl and bettman will regret pissing off two HUGE fanbases in TO and DET. big mistake.