kliq

Ok, thats not as bad as I thought. I would like to see him go as well.

Just heard Kevin Weeks on the Velenti Show, and Velenti asked (I'm paraphrasing) "Am I crazy, or with Blashill getting an ext, surely Yzerman had to approve it" Weeks answer: "You're not crazy Mike". Interview is here if anyone is interested. https://player.fm/series/the-valenti-show-1511420

I really don't want to see any buy-outs until we need to do them. I feel that we could trade Daley to a team like Pittsburgh if we retained 50% and asked for peanuts (ie. a conditional 7th). E I would sit on for the rest of the season, he is a big body, and could garner some interest at the TDL. I do think we now move on from Kronwall/Vanek, which I'm hoping for! 100% on the hockey trade thing. This is something that Yzerman has shown he is willing to do with moves like the St. Louis for Callahan deal (though his hands were kind of tied) and more recently the Sergechev for Drouin deal. I hope so! Yzerman doesn't seem to be as reliant on vets as Holland, and this is something I am excited about! You really want an Abby cap hit for 8 more years? I'd much rather retain 50%, throw in a pick and trade him to a team like Arizona then buy him out. And even then, I'd wait until we needed the cap space.

He's not wrong. While I am happy Yzerman is taking over, and while I do think Yzerman is a better choice to lead in 2019 then Holland, let's not forget that even if you erase everything Holland did prior to 2003, Yzerman still hasn't accomplished what Holland has accomplished. Hopefully he does.

I was not expecting to read this today, but I am extremely pumped to see Yzerman coming home. Guy was my idol growing up, and it always rubbed me the wrong way seeing him in TB. I remember during some tribute at the Joe, Yzerman was on the screen wearing a TB jacket, and it just didnt look right. Completely agree with what @Dabura said two posts above.I think that Yzerman is going to be very similar to Holland, however where I think they differ is I think Yzerman is more likely to move some of "Hollands guys".

Mainstream wise that would have been bigger, no doubt. But being a kid in Windsor in 1993 where you were either a Wings fan, Leafs fan or Habs fan, having the Canadians beat Gretzky for the cup seemed epic at the time.

The mediocrity comment for a 62 win team was the funniest to me. I think that just shows how people latch on to something they heard without really understanding what it means. Ya I see no issues with that, if I am them I am trying to trade Callahan and an asset to a team near the floor. Or maybe a hockey trade, so a Coffey/Primeau for Shanny type deal with one of the guys you mentioned. I wouldn't be trading Stamkos, Kutch, or Hedman though (not that you implied that).

Agreed, to me that would seem like the natural next step. Ripping apart the core would be downright stupid. If by tame you mean lack of "f***s and s***s", I didnt bother posting those because its just a bunch of ******. My point of most of thoes was more so the ridiculousness of the fans.

I remember watching that series as a kid, I was absolutely shocked. In '91, '92, and '93 after the Wings were eliminated I started following the Pens, so up to that point I had never seen the Pens beaten and I viewed them as invincible.

Oh I've read a ton! Here are some of the highlights from the HOF forums: In regards to Points upcoming contract:

Obviously this series is far from over, but this seems to happen quite often. Whenever a team coasts through the regular season facing zero adversity, so foten as soon as the playoffs come around, its like they aren't prepared to "battle" so to speak.

Looks like letting go of Curtis McElhinney was a mistake by Dubas, Sparks doesnt seem like anything special while Curtis McElhinney played well in Carolina this year, he was pretty much the starter until he went down with an injury.

Also, lets not pretend like Carolina and Detroit have defenses that are the same. Definitely a big difference in their GAA with Howard being at 3 (which is normal when you have one of the worst D's in the league in front of you), however Save Percentage wise they are practically the same.That is very telling.

I think it goes back to respect. Bowman was one of the best coaches of all time, and he had the respect of his locker room. That respect didnt come over night, but he gained it from winning, and by managing those ego's properly. Not an easy thing to accomplish.

I think that just speaks to how good Bowman was at doing this. Truly not an easy thing to pull off, but I really do think age helps.

It really is true, you can't treat the vets the exact same as the kids, and if you have stars on your team, good luck keeping them if you are on their asses the same way you are riding some rookie. Not saying vets get a pass, but its not the same. Look at the Detroit Lions this year, Matt Patricia came in with a "I dont care who you are" attitude and pushed the vets the same as the kids, and it led to an awful season and a toxic clubhouse. Maybe things turn around, but if you dont have the respect of the vets, you're screwed as a coach. I think its even harder when you are a young coach like Blashill.

Re-building teams don't buy players out unless they the player is going to cost them a valuable asset. If we buyout Abby after this season, we are dinged with a cap hit for the next 8 years. Having his cap hit now when we are not contenders has very low ramifications. Sure it may piss some fans off, but there are no real consequences. In 4 years from now if things go as planned, his cap hit could really hurt being on the books for another 4 years. Maybe you buy him out when he has a year or so left, but not now as the penalty is too harsh, and the reward is very small.

Agreed. I look at a young coach in the same way I look at a young player, they need to develop. I think Blashil has gotten better since he started, and for right now I think he is the right coach. In two years if he keeps improving, I am open to an extension, he he appears to be at a point where he can't take him to the next level, I'm fine to move on.

Why are you taking your argument to such an extreme? I never once insinuated that you should pretend that Blashill is an amazing coach, nor did I say anything close to that. My exact words were that he is "ok" (see below). Where do you get "amazing" from that? I dont see the point in bringing up Dave Tippett, are you trying to insinuate that Tippett is a better coach then Blashill? If so, agreed. The point I was making is that to say Blashill has NOTHING to do with the development of Larkin, AA, Mantha and others is simply incorrect. Nowhere did I say Blashill was THE reason why they were good, but he has clearly contributed to where they are now as his job has been to develop them as players, something we have seen done incorrectly numerous times throughout history. Not everything has to be an extreme. Its not a "you hate him" or a "you think he is amazing" situation.

I'm not going to sit here and say Blashill is a great coach, to be honest I think he's ok. I would love to see what he can do with a good roster. However, what is ludicrous is saying that a head coach has "no bearing" on the output of his young players. Nobody is saying he is "THE" reason, but the guy has literally coached these kids their entire career, to imply he has no impact on their play is simply incorrect.

What can you do, its impossible to predict injury. Mantha has 21 goals in 63 games which is .33 GPG. If you use that math over 82 games, that's 27 goals this season. I think Mantha hits 30 next year if he stays healthy.

I'm not saying that Larkin doesn't try to shoot, but comparatively speaking IMO Larkin seems to set other guys up more then AA does. I think one thing all of us can agree upon, its nice to finally have a debate about which of our 30 goal scorers is better *edit* didn't realize AA scored his 30th tonight

I dont think its a given that AA has more goals if he plays 1C. It wouldn't surprise me that if he played in that spot over a long period of time, his Corsi drops significantly which then could even lower his total. Don't forget, he then goes from playing against other scrubs to head to head with the Crosby's, McDavid's, Bergeron's, Kopitar's and Point's of the world. I'm not looking to put down AA, I like him a lot as a player. But, I think Larkin being the 1C means Larkin tries to play a more complete game, and if Larkin was just trying to score goals, his total's would rise. I dont think its as simple as "AA is a better goal scorer".

If thats the case he should pass him in no time.

My bad, when I first checked the thread I just watched the one video. The hit didn't seem that bad, didnt seem like a charge, but I cant remember the exact rule on that. He did leave the ice with his skates, but I'm not sure how much of an impact that made.