eva unit zero

Yeah, the Wings should have traded that washed up bum Yzerman at the deadline in 2002, too. I mean, he was coming up on the end of his contract, he was clearly past his prime and overpaid, and the Wings could have spent his money on someone younger who might have actually shown up in the playoffs! /sarcasm

Ok...so if a dollar is worth half as much now, doesn't that mean that salaries have to hit 100m before we have to worry about being 'back where we started' or are you just grasping at straws. Also...where in the f*** are you getting charged 5 bucks for a gallon of milk?? Someone should call the cops, cause that's flat robbery!

The stands were never packed in Winnipeg. The Jets never once in their history averaged better than 90% of capacity for a season. For reference, Winnipeg Arena held 15,500 and 90% of that figure is about 13,900--more than Winnipeg's highest single season average. Winnipeg was a complete and total failure as an NHL market. The six Canadian metro areas with greater than 1 million people are the ones with teams now and the only ones that should have teams. The greater Toronto area already has two teams, one of which (Buffalo) it has generally had difficulty supporting despite rabid hometown fans and a mismanaged Leafs team. Look to New York for an example of what you get when you have three teams in close proximity in a hockey market. One team that constantly sells out, others that get attendance only when doing well, or not at all.

Both members of my all-time favorite defense pairing had their careers ended by drunk driving. Vladdie and Steve Chiasson, who were paired together for two seasons in the early 90s.

How is saving a million in cap space a ridiculous signing?

NBC's deal, and the deal ESPN offered that was rejected, had NO RIGHTS FEE, just shared advertising income. Also, the NHL can be pre-empted for things like Preakness pre-race coverage. Under the Versus deal, there is a large rights fee, plus the NHL gets priority coverage and games can not be pre-empted for things like Preakness pre-race coverage. This is the sort of deal Bettman had previously had with ESPN that ESPN was NOT WILLING to renew.

Why is it ridiculous? Leafs save a million on the cap by signing a new deal rather than exercising the option.

What the NHL needs is a better network deal than they currently have with NBC. Not a worse cable deal than they currently have with Versus.

Poker gets better ratings because it is on ESPN and hockey is not. Hockey is not on ESPN because ESPN felt hockey was unneccessary. Put a team in Las Vegas and see how NHL ratings change compared to poker...

Absolutely. Of the 13 largest metro areas in the US, only Houston doesn't have an NHL team. Portland, KC, and Las Vegas are all excellent choices as well. And what do you mean 'the state of the NHL' exactly. Do you mean the record revenues? Because the NHL is doing far better financially now than it was even three years ago. Blind ignorance does not reality make.

The only difference I can find between the two is that Bootland was drafted and Ellis was not. I didn't think that made a difference, though.

Las Vegas is similar size as Portland, Seattle, Boston, Washington, Denver, or Milwaukee. But Las Vegas in the last fifteen years has DOUBLED in population, and is the fastest growing city in the US. Also it has many northern transplants, which has been a recipe for success for the NHL in Dallas and San Jose.

The only series winners I had wrong were Detroit vs Anaheim, Ottawa vs Buffalo, and Ottawa vs New Jersey. Had I picked the winner on any of those, I would have won.

I'll take that bet...If you assume the Ducks sold only half of all tickets to regular season games for their thirteen years of existence, that's still about 5 million. City, not state.

No, because going into the lockout player salaries were at 75% of league revenues. The cap, even at its highest potential point, doesn't allow for anything remotely near that percentage. Your assumption that the same raw number for salary means the cap solved nothing is wrong, because you fail to realize that the revenue number of 2.36B would be about 25% more than the league made in 2003-04. You are going on your false belief that the league is doing worse financially when it is actually doing BETTER.

The Jets never once averaged better than 13,900 for attendance in a season. EVER. Not once in their history. That means they NEVER were above 90% of capacity for a season, EVER. Sounds like they really brought the fans in. Quebec only failed due to lack of corporate support--they filled the arena, and that was because of proximity to Montreal. I doubt that would be different now. Kansas City, Houston, Las Vegas, and Portland are the four cities I would be looking at if I were thinking about expansion. Also, on the gambling subject: It is worth noting that in Las Vegas, you can gamble on basically any major professional or division I NCAA college team, with one notable exception: UNLV. It's highly likely that games involving a team based in Las Vegas would not be available to bet on ANYWAY.

And people sit here begging for teams to return to Winnipeg, Hartford, Quebec? Those cities failed just as miserably as Atlanta or KC did, and much more recently.

Kopecky in the Anaheim series, Calder in the earlier rounds would have been the guy I took out. Samuelsson also would have been out before Hudler--he played better in the playoffs than the regular season but I felt Hudler was more effective in less time.

People talk about Filppula being an offensive force in the playoffs. FACT: Hudler had a better point-per-game ratio than Filppula in the postseason. Another misconception: Hudler is slow. Hudler is not slow. He's not as fast as Sergei Fedorov, but he's closer to Fedorov speed than he is to Jason Allison speed. He has amazing vision, great hands, and a rocket shot. He is never going to win the Selke, but he is NOT a defensive liability. He is a small player, but he is tenacious and gritty. He will drive the net and work the corners, even though he is small. It was a mistake of Babcock's NOT to play Hudler more than he did. Was it the difference in the Anaheim series? Doubtful. But having more offensive talent instead of physical presence couldn't have been a bad thing in a series where the Wings had trouble scoring and not trouble dealing with the physical game.

Whitney is an RFA, and Pittsburgh won't be giving him up. Kopecky makes half that, and Hudler and Chelios likely will be under 1m. Hartnell will cost almost TWICE the figure you put. But that defense is scary bad. Lebs and Lilja are NOT top four guys.

Horton, as well as about 50% of the Panthers roster, is a Group II RFA.

The talent pool has not been diluted. That is a myth. Proof: In 1987, there were approximately 450 NHLers and 425 Canadians with 25 Americans or Europeans in the league. Now, there are approximately 385 Canadians and 315 Americans or Europeans. So, for the sake of argument, assume two things: 1) That Canadian hockey produces the same amount of 'NHL level' talent now that it did 20 years ago, and 2) That after the 315 Americans or Europeans, there is not another player who would have made the NHL 20 years ago. That would mean there are 740 players right now who would have been good enough to play in the NHL in 1987. That's a 65% increase in the talent pool. If we assume there are the same percentage of NHLers outside the league from the US or Europe who are '1987 NHL level' that there are of Canadians, that's another 33 players, meaning a 72% increase in the talent pool rather than 65%. The league has added nine teams since then, a 42% increase. Adding two more makes that a 52% increase. So the average fourth liner in a 32 team NHL in 2007 will still be better than the average 4th liner in a 21 team NHL in 1987. Also of note: expansion to KC and Vegas means one West team moves East. That COULD be Detroit. Add Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia to the Northeast, and merge the remaining Atlantic and Southeast divisions into a new Atlantic division and you have two 8 team divisions in the East. Add Dallas, KC, Minnesota, and Colorado to the remaining Central teams, and the Western leftovers can make up the Pacific. Columbus obviously could be moved as well, in the same place as Detroit. Obviously Detroit/Columbus would have to remain 'West' if Nashville moved to Kitchener.

That was Derek Meech, not Quincey.

Fixed it for you.

Something to remember: Heatley plays on the first line with Alfredsson and Spezza. Hossa played second line behind Alfredsson, and in his final four seasons in Ottawa led the team in playoff scoring three times and finished second one other. Big difference between Heatley's teams and Hossa's? Hossa's teams had classic choker Lalime in net. Hossa's center was third-line checking center Todd White, who had his two best years for scoring when he played with Hossa. Yes, Heatley scored 22 points in 20 games. Guess what? So did both his linemates. If Hossa had that kind of support in Ottawa, the Sens may have seen a couple finals. Technically, Heatley finished second on the Sens in scoring (Alfredsson had seven more goals). Last season he finished third. Looking at it that way, you can't claim Heatley is the better performer--Hossa led the team in playoff scoring three times from the second line, tied for second on other year, and finished third from the third line in his rookie season. Only one other time, his sophomore year playing third line, did he finish outside of the top two spots in team scoring. I said it when the trade was made, I'll say it now: I would rather have Hossa.