StaticWithABeat

Tim Gleason and Jeff Friesen too.

Yeah I know what you mean, it'd be nice to have some local competition...Nashville is the closest we've had lately, but I've never really been able to get into that "rivalry." The Hawks will be better next season...probably won't make the playoffs but the way things are shaping up they should be able to ice at least two respectable lines and should get solid goaltending. Their big question is defense - they have the makings of a pretty sweet d-core, but no one to lead it. They rely on inexperienced guys like Seabrook and Keith to play 20+ a night which is killing their development and doing them no favors in the long run. If Aucoin stops being s***ty and they acquire at least one established veteran defensemen that can lead the way and teach the young guys how it's done they may be in business.

Meh...I agree with 6 of those, am indifferent on 2, and disagree with 2. Just give me 1 and 7 and a lot of things would probably work themselves out.

Personally I'm quite happy with just having no two-line pass rule...I think the league has about 1000 things it would be better-served trying to fix before it goes back to screwing with perfectly functional, well-established rules in an attempt to force more offense into the game. I pretty much automatically equate "blogger" to "know-nothing blowhard with too much time on their hands" because 98% of them just spout off pages full of uninteresting, uninformed crap...such as seriously advocating removing fundamental parts of the game because their attention span is too small to handle the 20 seconds between an offsides call and the ensuing faceoff.

This trade wasn't about the actual players involved so much as it was about the cap space they represent...especially as far as Montreal was concerned. Cullimore was probably going to be bought out one way or another, his salary was just thrown in to even up the trade a bit. ON PAPER To Chicago: Samsonov (3.5m/season) To Montreal: Cullimore (1.9m/season) Salmelainen (750k/season) IN REALITY To Chicago: Risky upgrade on LW To Montreal: $850k cap space

I'm not sure he's worth a 2nd rounder but he's a reasonably cost-effective player...considering their cap situation, that's probably TB's #1 priority. They'll need lots of bargain deals to fill the 9 forward slots behind their Big 3.

15,000...I'm pretty sure I've been to keggers with more people than that. California needs to not have 3 teams.

Maybe I'm just a raging pessimist - actually I know I am - but I'm going to hate the new jerseys no matter what they look like. To me, they represent Bettman's bastardized NHL, while the current jerseys will remind me of "the good old days." I'll try to give them a chance when they're unveiled, but to me it's just Bettman continuing to piss all over hockey, one tradition at a time. They're the one thing that still reminds me of the old ass-kicking NHL, and now that's going away too. I don't want to hear any BS about justifying the change either...ohh but the players will be 8% more aerodynamic, sophisticated anti-sweat fabric, etc etc....they've made jerseys out of the same god damn material since forever and the players never seemed to complain about sweatiness or wind resistance hindering their on-ice performance. It's just another tradition sacrificed for the sake of generating money.

Part of me wants to say that's awesome, and part of me wants to say that's f***ed up...I guess if I were a 12 year old and got the opportunity to do that I'd be all over it, it would definitely be an interesting experience. I wonder if their final exam is to fight Derek.

Dynamo I pretty much echo all of your sentiments on league expansion...I can't imagine how anyone could think the NHL is doing itself any favors by adding more teams at this point. Wasn't expansion a major cause of the league's recent problems to begin with? '90s overexpansion = talent dilution = teams implement the trap/defensive systems to compete = less scoring = less fan interest = league implements all kinds of s***ty ideas trying to force scoring back into the game = we now have a bastardized figure-skating league to watch...and now it's time to start expanding some more? aaaggghhHH#!)$@!H!)!!!! I get depressed and irritable when I dwell on how incredibly incompetent the NHL's leaders and owners are, so instead I try to think about what my perfect NHL would be like. Sometimes when I'm bored in my 3 1/2 hour long summer classes I compile lists of all the changes I would make. 24 teams...4 divisions...no instigator penalty...balanced schedule...divisional playoff format...weighted draft lottery for all teams........ahh yes the anger is fading already...

Damn that's quite the lineup...I would've given anything to be at a post-'99 trade deadline game, I was super excited about getting Wendel Clark. My approximate train of thought was "Meh, Chelios is old, he'll probably play out this season and retire...but no one will be able to stop us with WENDEL-EFFING-CLARK in the lineup!!"

It's good to see a thread like this, even though there's no way I would stay here if I were another team's fan...In the past two months or so I've noticed maybe 2 non-Wings fans and probably 5-6 Wings fans who do nothing but ***** incessantly and start s***-slinging wars. This forum is great when it's civil, but half of the threads I've seen since the playoffs started inevitably get derailed with exchanges like this: Annoying wings fan: f*** the (Flames/Sharks/Ducks), dirtiest bunch of cheap-shotting lowlifes I've ever seen, Good thing the Wings and their fans are so classy and will never resort to their level...Let's just hope the (Flames/Sharks/Ducks) all get what they deserve and die of skull fractures in the next game. Flames/Sharks/Ducks fan: (clearly angry but still trying to remain somewhat composed) I disagree Annoying wings fan: Well to hell with you and everyone from (Calgary/San Jose/Anaheim), you are obviously a typical dumbass homer just like everyone from (Calgary/San Jose/Anaheim), quit trolling our boards with your slander (3 pages of back-and-forth arguing between AWF and other teams fan) Reasonable wings fan: Annoying wings fan, you need to chill out Annoying wings fan: Piss off, Reasonable wings fan. Am I supposed to just remain silent while this (Flames/Sharks/Ducks) fan tries to defend their team against my 200th consecutive post about how everyone on their team puts babies on spikes and gets off on spilling the blood of innocents??

I would've liked to have seen him get a game or two in the Anaheim series since the PP could've used any help it could get after Schneider went down, but his benching was for the best in an intense, grinding playoff atmosphere against big physical teams like SJ and Anaheim. Even Filppula looked like a boy amongst men out there a lot of the time - especially in the San Jose series - getting muscled off the puck and pushed around in the corners. I'd love nothing more than to see Hudler succeed and stick on the roster, but in the back of my mind I keep thinking "Small, light, mediocre skating ability...how many players matching that description ever have a lasting impact in the NHL?"

TB crippled themselves by devoting half their cap space to three players, while Carolina just lost their will to compete after their run. I don't think Anaheim will be as dominating as they were this year, but there's no way they're going to s*** the bed like their predecessors did, they're too skilled and too well-managed for that.

96-97, Wings vs. Stars, end score 4-3 Wings. I was 11 years old, my dad had a friend at work lend him his season tickets. I remember thinking how huge the Stars players were and watching Osgood hoist his stick over the glass to a fan after the warmup. It was also a milestone night for Yzerman, moving past Delvecchio for most assists as a Wing or something like that.

From what I understand Gillies is basically a faster, harder-working Keith Primeau without the offensive skill. In any other draft I'd say he's not worth taking in the first round, but seeing as how weak the '07 crop is I can see why he's being mentioned as a top 15-20 candidate. His size and work ethic make him a safe pick even though he'll probably top out as a 3rd liner.

I always get excited about the draft even though the Wings haven't had anything resembling a high pick since the Taft administration. Word on the street is Philadelphia or Phoenix may entertain offers for their picks if it means acquiring an elite top-line center, and I would imagine LA might deal or trade down since their biggest need is in goal and this draft is a goalie wasteland. As for the Wings, the draft is pretty weak overall so I expect they'll go straight to Sweden and try to dig up more Zetterbergs.

I think Hossa is the more dynamic and complete player...maybe not quite as offensively prolific as Heatley, but they're close enough in overall talent level to where I'd say neither team really lost out on the trade. All things considered I'd rather have Hossa on my team but I don't think it would've mattered for Ottawa anyway, Anaheim would've beaten them with or without Hossa on their roster.

According to the latest THN mag the Wild let him walk because they are "so disappointed in his lack of progress."

I don't know anything about Kulemin but outside of Tlusty (who is good but they say probably won't be first-line good), Pogge, Robby Earl, and maybe 1 or 2 others I don't see a lot of promise in the Leafs prospect pool. They're definitely not the worst out there, they've done enough to keep themselves somewhat afloat despite their largely unsuccessful present-over-the-future strategy of the past 15 years. Wellwood/Steen/Stajan/White/Colaiacovo are all good players, but not good enough to avoid the Dark Age that will follow Sundin's departure. I think the team needs to be burnt to the ground and rebuilt, but there's too much pressure to field a winning team in Toronto for that to happen. Sundin is an awesome player and I'd hate to see him piss away his twilight years playing for an organization that has failed to build a respectable team around him for over a decade.

I was just as frustrated over the Wings failure as anyone else, but this Wings-are-the-better-team stuff needs to stop. If we were truly the better team we would've won. We lost because our powerplay couldn't get it done without Schneider and Anaheim's opportunistic goal scoring, which the Wings couldn't match. They deserve to be where they are. They were the better team in that series.

I'd rather see a team back in Winnipeg or Quebec City than Hamilton, but anything that involves more Canadian teams is ok by me. This whole thing is moving along awfully fast, it'll be interesting to see what other shenanigans Ballsillie will try to pull over the summer.

Does anyone remember Al Iafrate? Souray reminds me a lot of him. He's a guy I wouldn't mind having on my team, but not at the price he'll cost. A defenseman that expensive should at least be reasonably solid all over the ice, and anyone who is familiar with him knows he's pretty much pure offense. Like others have said, Schneider is a better value than Souray is.

Too bad the Leafs are a poorly-run disaster of an organization with no prospects and no future. If he signs this deal it's just going to be two more years of not making the playoffs and having no decent linemates to play with. If I were him I'd seriously consider signing elsewhere...he's not going to accomplish anything by staying in Toronto.

Pistons s*** the bed bigtime on this one...the Cavs consist of one player and they still couldn't beat them. Looks like it's time to leap off the bandwagon before it crashes through the guardrail and over the cliff.