BobL

Losing AA would be a big mistake at this juncture... I'd rather hold on to Nyquist too, though... I think he had an off year during a year that the organization had an off year, and paired with the right playmaker he could come back and be better than he ever was. Though I could be wrong... ... and we still need that D. If those were my choices, I'd choose Fowler.

Bummer. https://twitter.com/TSNBobMcKenzie/status/748244332017238016

I am echoing what others have said already, but I think it needs to be echoed... I feel like a lot of the 'How did Holland sign this guy?' and 'Where's our change?!?!?' posts really ignore the part of the equation where you have to get someone to agree to come... Stamkos wasn't available. Okposo didn't want to come here. I think Nielson will be good, and makes the team better than it was last year. Of course we would all want a shorter term... but this is the reality of the market.

I really like Helm being on the team... but I do think it is overpayment by about .8 - 1M. 3rd Line center, I think he's that guy. I'd never want Shaw. Bleh.

Trade 'em E.

Which might be a good argument for Staal for a short contract... then hope something better is available when his contract ends. I don't know what UFAs there might be the next couple years, so I don't know who that is, but... just thinkin'.

Think we could swing Ladd and Okposo?

Hudler and Fillpula, right?

I read that as $7.6M total, $3.8M/year...

Every time I look at the forum topic list I read this as '... are going to hell', and do a double take.

Bravo. Well done, Kenny.

Not great, but the old one was embarrassingly bad... re: the old one, I agree with the comment of it looking like crummy tattoo flash. This and the Jets logo look like they were designed by the same people... steps in the right direction compared to a lot of the last round of logos (thinking original panthers, wild 'beast' thing, thrashers, hurricanes)... but nowhere near as cool as the old school.

Yeah, that's gotta be a pretty good suspension.

Yeah, I'm not married to Stamkos specifically... just... someone who plays that sort of role.

Blues in 6.

I think Mrazek with the right team in front of him would be great. I think DK is a solid #2 - but could absolutely use a #1. I don't see any point in moving Green. I think Larkin and AA are right where they should be. I think Zetterberg, Abdelkader and Kronwall won't go anywhere, even though I wouldn't argue against moving Kronwall - they just won't move those guys. Outside of that? If it's worth it, it's worth it. I think losing Pav means Holland absolutely needs to land a legitimate goal scorer, e.g. Stamkos. The last few years Holland seems to get the guy who was maybe that guy at some point in his career, but is now over the hill and definitely not that guy anymore (Weiss, Richards, Alfredsson, Modano). Maybe that should stop being a thing - give the kids the ice time needed to grow into those roles and stop hiring veterans fade out of them...

Pretty good zoo... pretty cool aquarium... there is a breakfast place fairly nearby that we've hit up the day after games where you can get a chicken fried egg and bison hash that is pretty great (http://www.sassafrasamericaneatery.com/). I guess be careful where you order anything called 'hash' in Colorado. I really like the museum of nature and science in Denver (http://www.dmns.org/) - they have these old school wildlife dioramas that I just think are incredibly neat. It is also right next to the zoo... not sure if you are traveling with kids, but those are both good things with them, and weather has been insane lately (even up in Wyoming, where I am). There is a whiskey distillery that makes a real good whiskey if you are into that - http://www.stranahans.com/ - I think there is some sort of attached/semi attached restaurant that I've heard is good. They do tours. If you have a car and time to kill you could do worse things than driving up through Boulder and up the canyon to Nederland to take in the mountains. Lot of neat scenery. Oh, and drink some O'Dell's and Avery beers! ...and some Left Hand beers... I realize this is all just turning into 'things to drink on the front range', but... hey... stick with what you know, right?

This.

I think Tatar is the better player right now, and Nyquist is probably going to be the better player over the course of their careers.

That's the trick, isn't it? How do 'we' stop allowing it? Part of it is certainly that the fans are excited to get a new arena (and really, who could blame them?), but the other part of it is that there is very little recourse for the little people (which is basically all of us) to wield any meaningful power. Wish I knew the answer. It does temper my love of watching Red Wing hockey to know that this is how the business runs, even in a franchise that is held up as a gold standard... and I'm not even a Michigan taxpayer, so it's not my money, but I feel for those of you who are. This article breaks things down even more: http://deadspin.com/detroit-scam-city-how-the-red-wings-took-hockeytown-fo-1534228789 Seems like the trade off for the city is the removal of the direct revenue they received with the current deal at the Joe. I think sports teams and museums and things of that nature are good for a city, important to a city, even if they are potentially drains on the resources of the city at some level, because those are really things we should value... but it's harder to swallow when you are talking about billionaires (not to mention the corporations of billionaires, which have a much higher value than the one guy) who could fund these direct business developments themselves... The question, really, is if it actually revitalizes anything.

Man, Larkin looks great.

Pretty funny article... maybe some truth? Puck Daddy

That might've been my kid. He loved his first game... and blue cotton candy, which is all over his face.