McAwesome

If he can be had for less than 1mil, Moreau would be the perfect fit on the 4th line, he may not be the heavy that some feel we need, but he definitely has the Dallas Drake style of play, and we could absolutely use another hard-hitting, shot-blocking, gritty forward who will stand up for his teammates. As for the other players mentioned, no thanks.

I may be in the minority here, but I think this is a good move by the Leafs. Kaberle would have been the first option, but his contract is up next year and even if he doesn't get traded this off-season, he likely will not re-sign in Toronto, and aside from Kessel, there are not really any players who have name recognition on the Leafs, and Phaneuf is young and under contract for 4 more years, that makes him as good a candidate for captain as they have. I don't know about the whole locker room cancer label he has gotten, unless people are referring to the pics of him chain-smoking in the Calgary locker room He may not be as good a player as his hype suggests, but I think this is a good move for the Leafs from a marketing and financial standpoint, the hockey aspect remains to be seen.

Then you would have teams really taking it for the #1 draft pick AND the cap space. Does that help or hurt? Basically, any system that gives individual teams a different salary cap is contrary to the spirit in which the salary cap was implemented, if you keep the actual cap the same but allow for certain situations to count differently against said cap, that is more in line with the competitive balance that the salary cap is trying to maintain.

I do not think this is a very good idea, the concept that teams who win get rewarded with a higher salary cap is the exact opposite of what the salary cap was intended to do, force competitive balance by limiting the amount a team can spend on player salaries, basically preventing teams from signing every available star player (i.e '01 Avs, '02 Red Wings, etc). Some ideas I have heard that I agree with are as follows: 1) Allowing each team to designate a player whose contract does not count against the salary cap, like they do in the KHL. 2) Allowing for a reduced cap hit for contracts signed by players who were drafted within the organization. Using #1 as an example, the Wings could designate Datsytuk's contract as cap-exempt for this season, since it is the highest cap hit, allowing them more cap space to attract a high-end free agent, say Kovalchuk @ 7 mil cap hit, then next season they designate Kovy's contract since it will be the highest. This is a rough sketch, any suggestions to particulars are welcomed, but you could put a restriction on only being able to designate contracts in force prior to July 1st, preventing teams from being able to offer a league-max salary and having it be cap-exempt right away. Using #2 as an example, say they allow a reduced cap hit for players drafted by the team they are under contract to, i.e Zetterberg, they could allow a 15% reduced cap hit up to 2mil max, which would reduce his cap hit by about 900k. Using this system the Wings would have about 5.16mil more in cap space, not counting RFA's whose contracts have not been resigned.

I am definitely looking forward to seeing what other teams do, I've pretty much conceded that the Red Wings will be a minor player in the free agent market. Tampa Bay only has 13 players under contract as of July 1st, 5 forwards 7 defensemen and one goalie, and $21 million and change in cap space, I look for Yzerman to make some noise, both in trades and in FA acquisitions, and the Lightning will be a very dangerous team once again. Toronto is another team I see making a lot of changes, first and foremost sending Kaberle and his 4.25mil cap hit off to greener pastures. It's going to be very interesting to see where some of the high-profile free agents end up, and how many of them take less money than their last contract (especially the goalies).

I agree that they had a much easier path to the Cup than any other team in recent memory, they looked lost in the first round against Nashville, and if not for Hossa's OT winner they would have gone into an 0-3 hole and likely been done. After the first round upsets in the East, it was a safe bet that whoever came out of the West would win. Yes, the Hawks are a good team, no, I don't think they were the best team, just the best team left at the end.

I would absolutely want to have a player like Byfuglien on the Wings, he is probably the best net-presence player in the league after Holmstrom, who better to take his place when he hangs them up. He's huge and hits the way a player his size should, and despite is poor +/- this year, he is pretty good defensively, the Hawks had him play the blue line when they were short at defense. Speaking of RFAs with good net presence, isn't Patric Hornqvist an RFA this year? He would probably be cheaper than Byfuglien and has potential to be a bigger scoring threat, only question would be how much we would have to give up in return for an offer sheet, and whether or not other teams are going to go after him, because there are teams out there that can afford to trade picks and such to land a player like Hornqvist.

1) Versus and NBC will run more ads featuring Crosby lifting the Cup than Toews, sparking infinite anti-Crosby threads, and Carman's post count will triple as a result. 2) If we stay healthy, we have a realistic shot at winning the division, especially with the depth that Chicago is likely to lose due to their cap situation. 3) Tampa Bay will make the playoffs and upset a division winner in the first round. 4) Toronto will make the playoffs (that's right, I said it). 5) Either Crosby or Ovechkin will be injured and unable to play in the outdoor game, ruining Uncle Gary's grand scheme. 6) Canada will have to wait yet another year for a Cup winner. 7) Very few people will be happy about Holland's free agent moves. 8) One of this season's division winners in the West will finish out of the playoffs.

Yes, I do. That is probably the number 1 reason he hated on the Wings so much, kicking himself for what could have been.

Yeah, I caught that, never underestimate the power of live TV. JR may have been a Red Wing hater, but he has never been shy about letting you know what he is thinking or feeling, and it is understandable that he would get emotional, the closest he ever came to winning the Cup came when he was a Blackhawk, and to watch his former team hoisting the Cup in person must have been a bittersweet moment for him, like most recently retired players, he probably feels like he could still be playing and would probably have come back another year for free if he could have been guaranteed another shot at the Cup.

If that were the case, you might have an argument, but the point was that Toews now has a Stanley Cup to go with his gold medal, and he won the Conn Smythe to boot, which Crosby has not won. Granted, Crosby has a few awards that Toews doesn't, and may never have (Richard, Ross, Hart, Pearson), but the point was he has an award that Crosby does not, and while I am not as anti-Crosby as some on this board, I am glad to see another young player that is becoming more marketable by virtue of his accomplishments in championship situations.

Amen to that, '97 was a great year for Michigan sports, the Wolverines also won the National championship in football later that year (although the Rose Bowl was played on 1/1/98, it was still for the 97 season), Barry Sanders broke 2,000 yards and the Lions made the playoffs (that is enough of an accomplishment)

Rick Peckham was paired with Darryl Reaugh during the Detroit/Phoenix, and I for one enjoy him as a commentator, being in Central Florida I get a lot of Lightning games on TV, and he is a fair and knowledgeable play-by-play man, his partner, Bobby "Chief" Taylor is pretty funny at times. Other announcers that Versus has used that I like are Sam Rosen (Rangers on MSG), Strader, Beninati, Kenny Albert, also +1 to everyone that mentioned Hughson, one of the best of all time, until recently I had only heard him on EA Sports, but now that I have had the chance to watch more HNIC I appreciate his style. Cannot stand Forslund or Jack Edwards (useless butt-plug), Olczyk annoys me with his "subtle interference" and "active stick" crap, Pierre's creepiness overshadows his positive contributions, Emrick's nasal voice hurts my ears, Engblom is OK in the sutdio but sucks as a color guy, Keith Jones just sucks altogether. Ken & Mick are a close second all-time in my mind, just behind Thorne & Clement. Also, given his stint as a studio analyst for Versus, anyone think D-Mac might get a chance to call games in the next few years? I hope so.

I had to pick Avery, and here's why: Pronger today is still an above average defenseman, but he is not as dominant as he once was, so the gag factor would not be outweighed by his contribution. Carcillo is too much of a loose cannon, his value of being an agitator and grinder would be wasted by spending too much time in the box, not exactly Red Wings style of hockey. Tootoo doesn't really have enough upside in any category, offensive, defensive, fighting, etc. to make me want him on this team. Avery, on the other hand, has shown that he has some offensive touch, and everything he does to agitate is cool and calculated, he rarely takes "stupid" penalties unlike the other forwards in the poll, and plus, aside from the off-ice comments, he reminds me a lot of how I played the game, always trying to get in the opponents head.

I voted Kindl because, as others have pointed out, he has the shortest path. He will be part of the opening day roster, likely as the 7th D-man, and he will likely be on a regular rotation along with Ericsson and whoever is signed to be the 6th defenseman (either Lilja or his replacement). Ritola will be the 13th/14th forward depending on signings and training camp, and may crack the line-up once or twice barring injury problems. Tatar will most likely spend the whole season in GR, even if he tears it up, because there are guys with tenure over him that are due for a call-up (Mursak, Emmerton), but he may make the decision difficult based on training camp, look at what he did last year, basically played his way onto the Griffins at 18.

Pros of next season: It is a clean slate Cons of next season: It is 4 months away

I agree with just about everything here, except that Nashville is much worse off than Ottawa, they would be a more likely candidate for relocation than the Sens. Glad someone else thinks a team in SLC would be a good idea, I have a ton of friends in Utah who not only follow the game (bunch of dirty Avs fans) but grew up playing youth hockey and a few have gone on to play on intramural/club teams at BYU, Utah State, and U of U, all of which now have D-II programs. There is a lot more interest in hockey there than most people realize.

^That is one of the funniest things I have ever seen on this board, and that's saying something. If we could afford Sutton, we'd be crazy not to try, he would be perfect for our 3rd pair defense.

As long as they update the unis, why not. Probably want to come up with a new nickname too, the world of pro sports does not need another Mets, period.

Lombardi would be a great pickup, especially if we don't re-sign Bertuzzi, but he will likely get a much higher offer from another team with more cap space, Nystrom or Asham would be nice either way, and affordable too. Torres and Comrie are way out of our price range, Nolan is too old, Higgins and Tanguay are overrated, do not want. This is one of the thinnest UFA crops in a long time, but guess who is RFA? Kyle Quincey. Git'r'dun Kenny. How about Artyukhin for the 3rd/4th line, the guy's huge, moves pretty good for a big man, has decent hands and fights pretty well for a Euro (look up his fight against Chara), plus after having a disappointing year and getting traded at the deadline, we might be able to get him for less than his 1M cap hit from last year.

WTF was NBC thinking? At least we know that the Cup won't be awarded on Versus, yet another sign that the NHL needs to dump their current TV deal ASAP. Hartnell is one fugly human being, or an average-looking ape.

Found this on Wikipedia, apparently this would have been the new Quebec logo had they not moved to Denver: BTW, anyone know the meaning of the Nordiques logo? I've read that it is supposed to be an igloo with a hockey stick.

Not an NHL team, but this is the one I miss the most. Gretzky's first pro team. Edit: They should put teams back in Winnipeg, Quebec, Kansas City, and put a team in SLC and either Portland or Seattle

Yeah, I know, I just had to put my 2 cents in. I'll admit that I often laugh at some of the outrageous things said on here and on the internet in general, but the sanctity of life is one topic which I tend to have no sense of humor about.

Human life is precious, and any untimely death, whether by accident, illness, or a conscious decision to take or end a life, is tragic. Ron McLean is a hero and should be recognized as such, as should the unnamed bystander who also jumped in to help. OK, public service announcement over, I'll let you get back to your morbid humor