kliq

Horrible news My thoughts and prayer go out to his friends and family.

I hope they get rid of this, obstruction diminishes skill and gives an advantage to the mediocre players. It doesn't take talent to hold/hook/interfere with a guy, its what a player who isn't at the same level has to do to compete. The only way to really diminish it (I say diminish because it will never completely stop) is to constantly call it. It will suck at first with just a ton of penalties, but it will become a part of the culture eventually. I'm all for hard nosed hockey, but there is a huge difference between battling with strength/endurance then holding someone's stick, wrapping your stick around their body, or taking their legs out.

Last year he was struggling to be a backup on a crappy Nashville team (I realize they had injuries). This year he is being spoken about in Hart & Vezina talk. He wont win because of Price, but either way....truly remarkable! If he had this in him, wow is this another black eye on Edmonton.

I never argued that, I agree it would make them look horrible. I said back when they stripped him of the C that SJ looked bad since they JUST signed him to an extension. I was just saying they could.

I'm not in anyway disagreeing that he has a No Movement Clause There is nothing in the CBA as far as I know (if I'm wrong, please post a link) saying you cant scratch a player who is perceived as being very good. Guys can be scratched for bad attitudes, poor play, being bad fits etc. As long as they pay the player there is nothing the NHLPA can do. Again, I am not advocating this move, I am not saying I would even agree with this move, I am saying they could do it if they wanted to. How do you know the Sharks are not "opening their pockets" in player development? As far as I know the salaries of scouts is not public knowledge. If you are arguing that they don't do a good job in player development, sure, that is a valid argument. But I don't see how you can argue their lack of development is due to a lack of spending money.

Same here........I knew he was good, but didnt realize this is the type of impact he was going to make at his age!

There is nothing in the CBA saying you cant scratch "star" players. A team can do whatever they want. I definitely think that SJ have handled Thornton horribly, but if they don't want him, I don't know why he would block any and all trades. A NMC gives you power to dictate where you go if you are traded which is awesome for the player, but to stay in a place you are not wanted is weird. (not saying he is not wanted yet, but it seems to be headed in that direction). What are you talking about "opening up his deep pockets" they are 5mil under the cap which is quite normal for this time of year. They aren't the Calgary Flames.

I didn't know that. I thought it just meant you cant be moved to another organization. They could still make him a healthy scratch until he agrees to a trade so my main point still stands. (not that I think they should do this, just making the point they can).

That's just one line from the quote, here is I believe the entire thing: Kind of ironic that Wilson said Thornton doesn't handle stress well and lashes out, then in response to this Thornton literately lashes out. Not exactly proving Wilson wrong. Doesn't surprise me, Thornton has always struck me as a player who has issues handling his emotions, reminds me of Geztlaf. If San Jose wants to get rid of Thornton, they can. I'm sure if they sent him to the minors or benched him in he would move is NMC. It is pretty gutless though for all this to happen AFTER he signs his contract extension at a discount. Its not like they didnt know what they were getting with Thornton when they signed him to the extension last year. Thornton for Weiss & Kindl???? I can hope!

I didn't even mention Franson. Even if Boychuk started playing in the NHL at 26, he's still been playing pro hockey for a long time. The and wear and tear on a physical D-man is still substantial even if its from the minors. Statistics show (Lidstrom is an outlier) that come your mid thirties, you typically start to decline. When he is 34 years old and still has 4 years left at 6 million per year, his contract will be considered a horrible contract unless the cap jumps up. I agree that the UFA class is weak, in today's NHL is usually is. This is why I believe the best way to move forward is to develop your own talent and make a trade/sign a UFA IF the right deal comes up. Franson is going to hold out for top dollar if history has shown anything, If I remember correctly he has had numerous contract holdouts/breakdowns with the Leafs over the years. (though I admit I could be wrong, and maybe the Leafs have been lowballing him).

No....but I guess you cant say otherwise right, that would be straying from the gimmick.

Wow! 7 year deal at 6 million per year for a 31 year old! In 3 years from now this is going to be a horrible contract. I feel like we dodged bullet here.

The health wasnt the part I was commenting on, it was the "set the world on fire" part. That indicates you want them to beat the Wings, which is fine but odd if you are actually a Wings fan.

You realize they are likely facing us.

Boston NEVER was going to trade Boychuk to Detroit. Giving a division rival exactly the piece they need would have been plain stupid.

Lombardi has done great things, there is no denying that. 2 cups in 4 years is amazing, especially in today's NHL. But, I have to take some points off when the way he got there was by essentially tanking for a decade. Unless you are Edmonton, this is a pretty easy but exhausting way to load up with talent. Plus, in the last few years he has made some very questionable big moves. The Bernier trade was awful, and signing Gaborik to a 7 year deal will come back to bite him in the ass. Yzerman would be a good nominee. If Dallas didn't suck this year, it would be pretty cool to see Holland, Yzerman, and Nill as the nominees.

I don't think they are exceeding expectations though. Any educated writer/fan knew that IF they stayed healthy and the kids didn't go through a major regression, this is exactly where they would be.

For me a perfect scenario would be to face Boston first round, Pittsburgh second round, third round don't care, then Chicago in the finals. Or if not Chicago then San Jose or Nashville There is no strategy to this, its simply payback! If im going off of strategy, I would like us to get Florida or Ottawa in the first.

Not to sound cliche, but sometimes the best move a GM can make, is no move at all, just ask a Flyers fan lol. Alot of GM's would have thrown ridiculous offers to the D men that were available in the off-season, but when the bidding got to high Holland walked away, I have to respect him for that as he didnt handcuff us with any horrible contracts. I don't think GM of the year is an award that is based on simply one years worth of work, if so, it would be the "best trades/UFA signings award". To me, it is a culmination of many moves a GM has made to bring you to a certain point, which I think Holland has done a great job of doing. In this city especially, going with a youth movement is going to be a hard sell to alot of fans (see Holland should be fired thread, see Tank it thread, etc. etc.) but Holland did it, and it paid off. I think he should definitively be in the conversation. Though lets see how the season plays out first. Kip makes a good point: If we finish third which is exactly what I and many fans expected, I don't think he should win, but definitely should be considered. If we win the conference......different story. To me, coach of the year is the coach who got the most out of his players based on the skill set of those players, not most improved (not saying you said this). It's a tough award to assess, you cant just give it to the coach who's team is the best, or then it just becomes the presidents trophy. I also don't agree with the notion that it should be awarded to most improved. I think it does a lot of the time because ultimately the most improved team is usually a team that people think very little of, then come out of nowhere, and then credit is given to the coach.

Great Game! Does anybody know what happened to Weiss? In the 3rd Glendening took his spot on the third line. I was there in person, so I couldn't tell if he was benched, or if he was injured.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/what-if-both-goalies-get-injured-nhl-rule-emergency-backup-goaltender/ "Each team shall have on its bench, or on a chair immediately beside the bench, a substitute goalkeeper who shall, at all times, be fully dressed and equipped ready to play. Except when both goalkeepers are incapacitated, no skater in the playing roster in that game shall be permitted to wear the equipment. "In regular League and Playoff games, if both listed goalkeepers are incapacitated, that team shall be entitled to dress and play any available goalkeeper who is eligible. This goalkeeper is eligible to sit on the player’s bench, in uniform. In the event that the two regular goalkeepers are injured or incapacitated in quick succession, the third goalkeeper shall be provided with a reasonable amount of time to get dressed, in addition to a two-minute warm-up (except when he enters the game to defend against a penalty shot). "If, however, the third goalkeeper is dressed and on the bench when the second goalkeeper becomes incapacitated, the third goalkeeper shall enter the game immediately and no warm-up is permitted."

I love Yzerman and I do think he is a good GM, and I think he deserves some credit for the gold medals. But lets be realistic, its basically a 7 team tournament where he has by a mile the most talent to choose from. Most GM's could produce a winner with that talent pool, especially when you have Babcock as your coach (admittedly credit to him for picking Babs). Either way, not the same as winning a cup as a GM. The only reason a person would be mad that people aren't giving him credit, is if they are trying argue that he is a better GM then Holland, and when faced with "3 cups" along with everything else on Holland's resume, they have nothing logical to say.

You realize that with a game in hand, they only have 3 points more then us. There is no reason why our expectations for this game should not be a win.

You are completely right, based on the precedent set by the NHL this should not warrant a suspension. With that being said, if the question is how to we eliminate cheap head-shots from the game, IMO long suspension is the ONLY answer as minor penalties, short suspensions, and on ice policing have proven not to work.

I'm pretty excited! I picked this game at random when I got my season tickets, I wasn't even thinking first game after the deadline!