Seraph

Lol, you wit. Franzen (fun)... haha.

Ouch, what a brutal position to be in as a hockey player, besides the whole getting paid millions of dollars to do squat part.

I have a feeling we're in store for some sloppy puck.

I agree Helm is one of the hardest workers on the team and puts together brilliant shifts almost every night, a great leader by example. However, I don't think he'd be comfortable taking a leadership role at this point. Drapes was in a similar position and he didn't wear the A until he was an seasoned vet near the end.

They have a product, we want it, and we have collectively paid millions for it in the past. We'll inevitably do the same in the future. They are the ones jockeying for position in the driver's seat to use us to their advantage. Trust me, they don't feel like they owe us anything.

Did I not say it would happen? We were all losing our minds here. Let's finally gather around the TVs, beers, and ice rinks and enjoy this great sport.

Ahhh, there is relief sweeping over me, but I can't get too excited yet. I was too young to get a feel for how the season went in 1995, but I wonder how a half season will play out. Will the standings end up being flukey or lean toward the teams that had active players in other leagues? This will be interesting.

If the NHLPA doesn't take this, they're idiots. The season will be canceled and their bargaining chip will be worthless going into negotiations for next year.

Haha, so our goalies are doing a bunch of nothing and "struggling to stay sharp"??

Zetterberg is already slowing down faster than Datsyuk. There used to be a big discussion on here about which player is better, but that has been put to rest as of late. It'll be interesting to see how the captain role will affect Zetterberg's play. As for putting any of these guys into the rafters, we will most definitely need to string together a couple more cups on these guys' backs. Like mentioned, they haven't reached legend status yet. The main hurdle will be producing good supporting players for them in the next couple years. As for the mule, he needs to be fed money to perform. Signing him long-term was a mistake because he doesn't have enough raw talent to coast and still be effective. I would void his contract and then re-sign him to 1-2 year deals at roughly the same price, maybe a bit less.

In 1995, I was ten years old and just beginning to become a fan. I didn't understand the stakes then. In 2009, after following the team for 15 years and growing up watching them, I felt what I thought to be our most devastating loss. For some reason I believed until the last second we would tie it, even at the last faceoff with the play to Nick, I was so sure it was going in. And then it didn't. What made it worse was that I was watching with a few Pens fans, so I couldn't turn off the TV. I had to watch them parade the win around our ice.

I honestly feel they will reach a last minute deal. They just need to drag this to the brink of canceling the season before it could happen. My reasoning is that last lock-out the players didn't accept the final tabled offer by the league, and they ended up paying for it badly. The subsequent season they got a much worse deal than the league's final offer. I think as we approach the deadline, Bettman will table a let's-save-the-season type deal to make the league look like the good guys. The players would be idiotic not to accept it.

Haha, "feet are on the ice." Look at where the play is. I didn't even see it the first time because I was focusing on the puck.

Ahhh! I now remember the feeling I got watching Datsyuk skate in on a goalie, totally at his mercy. Those were good times.

Good point. In ten years, people will be like, "Zetterberg didn't put up as much points as our new star center, but you have to remember, he played in the 'lock-out era.' Who knows how they would compare without the missed production time."

The commissioner has no understanding of what it means to be a hockey fan. If he did, he would show some sort of understanding for the fans after not only one, but potentially two seasons go down the drain. Nothing will change if he is still in place when the next CBA expires.

I moved downtown not too long ago and my apartment's view is right toward the huge parking lots behind the Fox Theater. I can post pictures for you guys when they start construction (or now, if anyone is interested in seeing empty lots). But I think strategically that spot fits the mold of what Ilitch is describing. The other side of Woodward is pretty happening with the other stadiums, Chili's, and other bars/restaurants. That's where all the action is on game days for the Tigers and Lions. On the other side there is Hockeytown cafe and then a bunch of nothing. I think putting the stadium there really completes the picture. Plus it's right on the Grand Circus Park people mover stop.

12/12/12 at 12pm. Second guess: 12/29/12 at 1pm.

The mention of the year 2009 on this boards makes me quiver, even without all that other stuff you wrote next to it. Ugggh.

I've been to a lot of NHL rinks, but I think the toughest building I've seen to play in was Lynah Rink at Cornell University. The school has a tradition of being a pressure cooker as far as academics go because the students come in there and give the competition hell for stress relief, it seems. Here are some of the traditions, for a full list go here: -The entire student body "reads" the newspaper while the away team is being introduced, chants "boring! boring!" and then throws the paper onto the ice. -Chanting "sieve! sieve! It's all your fault!" to the goalie after he lets one by. -Singing "Hey you suck!" instead of "Hey!" during Rock and Roll part 2. -Shouting "Ahhhhhhhhhh!" while a player is skating to the sin bin, then "see ya a**hole! you goon" as they slam the door shut. -If it's a blowout, in the final minutes of the game the crowd will all jingle their keys and chant "go start the bus." When they play their biggest rival, Harvard, the crowd throws fish on the ice because "Harvard stinks." Another good story is that the crowd somehow obtained the opposition goalie's cell phone number and started chanting it during the first period. Then in the third, they started chanting his girlfriend's cell phone number. I bet they got a lot of "missed calls" from the student body that night, haha. Introductions: It won't let me post more than two videos, but you can see the .Sieve chant: Rock and Roll, pt 2:

I would use the opportunity to leave the country and get out of my comfort zone for a while. It could help me develop into a better player if I played a different style on a different sized rink. I could develop skills that might be less emphasized in the NHL and try to apply them when I got back. Definitely try to put a positive spin on it. My worst nightmare would be to Keith Tkachuk it through the lockout and come back completely out of shape.

How has no one sunk their teeth into this gem yet?? This may be grounds enough for an off-season photoshop war. http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/RcGINp30BPpmeDngxKyFgQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en/blogs/sptusnhlexperts/149197523.jpg

I think you are being optimistic and there is nothing wrong with that. The fact is that our defense is unproven and it's the first time in a long time that we're going into a season feeling shaky on the back end. You can play various tricks with numbers and stats to convince yourself it's going to be okay, but that's just a more calculated form of optimism. Our off-season acquisitions were not significant enough to make the entire fan base feel equally optimistic, but half the fun is seeing what happens and how we adapt. Though I will say whatever perks you want to cite about signing Samuelsson, Tootoo, and Brunner (bang for buck, etc.) won't mean much if we end up dropping games from our shaky defense. Filling that gap was our top priority that's where I would most heavily weigh the grade. I wouldn't necessarily give us an A, but here's to being proven wrong.

Hahaha, I love how our only update on Kronner is that he was at Target last weekend. Talk about a hockey season being overdue.

Well that clears things up. Way better place to play on Long Island as far as revenue is concerned. Should have started out there in the first place.