kipwinger

Well I think the holdup is two things, the League doesn't want to honor contracts, and the NHLPA won't give on the HRR because it's not an even split, it's only 50/50 for a couple years and then the league gets a little more as far as I understand.

Agreed, they rely on a small and extremely skilled labor pool and that labor pool is compensated accordingly. I'm ok with the NHLPA fighting to ensure the NHL honor existing contracts, precisely because high end labor must be compensated accordingly. The NHL should budge on that issue. However I don't see how anyone can justify a majority of HRR also going to the players as compensation by saying "they're elite laborers". They are that, which is why they get paid as much as they do. The majority of the HRR should go to the people who take the risks and therefore can actually LOSE money. Owners lose money (via declining ticket and merch sales) if their players play like s***. Players are guaranteed their money whether they suck or not (looking at you Ty Conklin). Owners can also lose money via things that are completely out of their control, like global recessions. They take risks. That's the difference, and that's why the players should budge on HRR.

Saw a headline about a Nyquist injury last night. It sounded fairly serious but I haven't seen anything more about it. Anybody have any updates or links?

Agreed, the responsibility of running the franchises which make up the National Hockey League falls on the owners. The players have no such responsibility. Because the owners accrue ALL of the costs and take ALL of the financial risks, they deserve a majority of the HRR. Once the players agree to that, the owners can agree to honor existing contracts, and we can all start playing/watching hockey again.

No "we" weren't. Speak for yourself. Drinking and driving is bad, But people f*** up, learn their lesson, and move on all the time. Hopefully this kid will too. If not, then he actually has a problem, rather than just being a dumbass kid (which is what I'll assume he, and Kane, are until they grow up or do something really bad).

See: McCarty, Darren or Probert, Bob.

"Alchololism is a disease, and the only thing that disease ever gave me was the first Triple Crown in 45 years!"

Hells yeah, superdrunk is superfun. Looks like we might have our own Patrick Kane in the pipeline brosephs. Can't wait to see his Cinco de Mayo pics!

As usual this is absurd. Jiri Hudler played 76,81,82, 73, and 81 games his last 5 NHL season respectively. Are we to understand that his 175 lbs. are somehow a different "kind of lbs" than Nyquist as well? What about Marty St. Louis? Or are you somehow privy to information about Gustav Nyquist's conditioning which leads you to believe that while most other lightweight NHLers are made of steel, he's somehow a cupcake? Let me guess, you've watched some of his highlight videos?

I agree he's young and there's always a chance that he can turn his career around. However, after reading some hockey commentary out of Edmonton, I wouldn't agree that he's an unknown quantity. In fact, due to injuries and depth problems up front, Edmonton needed top six wingers and Omark frequently found himself passed over for the likes of Darcy Hordichuk, Chris Vandevelde, and Teemu Hartikainen. Furthermore, it seems as though he didn't leave a very good impression on Tom Renney while playing for the Oilers, and I'd seriously be shocked if Renney didn't put the kibosh on any Wings attempt to bring him in. I've been wrong before, but his play was shoddy while with that organization and apparently his attitude sucked. No way the Wings take a shot on this guy. Here's a couple of the articles I dug up... http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2012/03/31/writing-on-the-wall-for-linus-omark/ http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2012/04/11/linus-omark-tweets-apparent-trade-request/

I don't think anybody is suggesting that he's going to be an agitator or a tough guy. But, if he doesn't mind a little bit of aggression it probably bodes well for his jump to the NHL, given that it's going to be a lot rougher over here. Many euros don't adjust well to the physicality of the NHL game, this video seems to offer some evidence that a little physicality doesn't bother Brunner too much, which is an advantage in terms of his likelihood of success. Is it the only factor? No. Is it encouraging? Absolutely.

I'd totally agree with this statement if Omark were a known commodity. The problem here is that you're aren't bringing in depth, you're taking a chance on a reclamation project when the spot that you're giving him could go to...bringing in more depth. If it were a situation in which we were pondering signing a guy with (hypothetically) Patrick Eaves or Drew Miller's resume I'd be all for it. But Omark, for all his skill, can't even boast that, so if we're interested in bringing in more depth then we should look for guys that give us that, rather than take a chance on a guy who's already washed out of the NHL.

It justs seems redundant. I don't see anything that Omark brings to the table that Nyquist doesn't, and we've already got Nyquist. Roster spots are limited, even in GR, and I'd rather see that spot go to someone who brings something to the table that we're missing, not another skilled euro, of which we've got a ton.

Or maybe they (Zetterberg and Brunner) are both really good and he's a floater who's benefiting from their hard work, it's not like Red Wings fans shouldn't be familiar with that scenario. We've already got enough question marks on this team, let someone else rehabilitate Linus Omark,

Omark has all the skill in the world, but when he played for Edmonton he reminded me of Ville Leino. Lots of talent, but coasts way too much, and is the beneficiary of the hard work of his linemates. Which is why Edmonton kept demoting him in the first place. No thanks.

Hey remember that time you compared a hockey game to recurring instances of domestic assault? Good post dude, those things are super comparable.

There's absolutely nothing funny about the lockout. But all these posts are a totally different story.

Actually I gave you five links to choose from, four from professional sports writers and one from his coach. But that's neither here nor there. I'm actually here to apologize, I had no idea what a tremendous hockey scout you were, so much so that you defy all the scouting reports about Brunner, including those of the Penguins, Lightening, and the Detroit Red Wings own Ken Holland and Mike Babcock, who had this to say about Brunner, "The thing for us is he’s high, high paced, he scored, looks like he has tons of skill." Please don't forget about all of us lowly fan forum members after you make it big as an NHL scout and/or coach and/or general manager. You have a very promising career ahead of you.

Wow, you're really something. Two posts ago I agreed with you and said that there's a real good chance he never scores 20 or 30 goals in the NHL. The point of contention, which I guess I need to remind you of, was the fact that in your first post you said the reason he wouldn't score in the NHL is because he's small and not "lightening fast". Then, after I corrected you and provided evidence, you kept arguing based on your viewing of his "highlight videos", and now you've changed the discussion completely and are railing about Emmerton and Smith. I only ever wanted to correct your false impression that Brunner is not "lightening fast". He is. That doesn't mean he'll be any good in the NHL, but it can't hurt. In the future it might help to admit when you're wrong. Also, it might help to not try and change the discussion around each time you're wrong on a point. Here's how it should go... Axe: Brunner is small and not lightening fast Kip: Yes he is lightening fast, here's proof Axe: Oh, I guess I was wrong. Still that's no guarantee he'll be good in the NHL Kip: Agreed.

What it means is that at the end of the day, all the owners (including Illitch) felt like either 1) locking out, or 2) preserving their business relationships over the relationships they have with the players, fans, etc. If Mr. Illitch, or any other owner, was against the lockout and his first priority was to his players, organization, or fans, he would have gone on record by voting against this absurd lockout. He didn't. None did. So arguing back and forth about which (if any) owners are actually against the lockout is ludicrous.

You win, apparently if you say something enough it makes it true. Just out of curiousity, can you find even one other source that says he doesn't have incredible speed? Didn't think so. Edit: Hey what do you know, here's an article where the guy's coach actually says "lightening fast" when describing Brunner. Granted, you've seen a few of his highlights and so you'd probably disagree, but I suppose just this once I'll go with the guy that knows what he's talking about. http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/story/2012/10/31/sp-hockey-nhl-henrik-zetterberg-damien-brunner-ev-zug-swiss-league-detroit-red-wings.html

Actually by all accounts he's got Helm like speed, so yes, he is lightening fast. High end speed references: here...http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1232733-detroit-red-wings-get-to-know-new-red-wing-damien-brunner and here...http://detroit.sbnation.com/detroit-red-wings/2012/6/22/3110401/damien-brunner-red-wings-rumors and here...http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2012/07/red_wings_sign_damien_brunner.html and here...http://www.redwingscentral.com/prospects/damien-brunner/ Of course none of this means he'll score 30, or even 20 goals. But in an effort to be contradictory, or simply out of sheer negligence, you've made a statement that is by every account demonstrably false.

So what you're saying is that at the end of the day it was more important for Mike Illitch to have a good working relationship with other owners than it was to make the fans happy, the players happy, and uphold the integrity of the game and league we all love? I agree.

Haha, looks like our boy doesn't mind a little of the rough stuff eh?