mackel

Easy now..... Peter Mansbridge is a national treasure. The Homers that do the Bruins games on NESN make my ears bleed... Edwards and someone.

Edmonton also plopped each of their top picks directly into the NHL. I get frustrated with how overly cautious the Wings are with young players but the old Edmonton way setback some of their best assets by years.... in the case of Yakopov it may have ruined the kid entirely.

Is that the best you can do Branch, maybe your TROLL skills are fading.

No you're Branch... through and through. http://dreamworks.wikia.com/wiki/Branch

Move on Branch.

Thanks for proving my point (again) Branch.

You're the most dogged Troll I've ever seen.

Assuming Team USA, wants an American coach... the options are slim. Most likely they want an NHL coach, familiar with many of the likely players. The coach's team must be out of the playoffs. AND The coach just want to take on the job... what other options out there fit the first 3 criteria... off the top, Bylsma, Hynes, Rowe

It sounds like someone's stopped believin'

Am I remembering correctly that the draft lottery for teams that miss the playoffs happens before round #1? It seems to me that's how I remember it from last season but I wasn't playing close attention since we weren't in line for a top pick.

It's in the water. Duh. We'd better slow our roll on the wins or our pick may not be as high as we all want it to be.

Generally speaking... rugged players from the west. I've not changed my argument.... heart and will to win are paramount... I did mention other factors such as culture and environment (within which rink size can be inferred, which you did and went on to say I didn't mention explicitly...) DK is making 750k less than Dougie Hamilton. Having looked that up on capfriendly reminded me how many average or mediocre players we have locked up to term and dollars. Not unique to the Michigan linked players but no discount either.... which is the point I've been making had you been following along and not arguing for the fun of it.

It's a message board not a memoir... I don't type everything that enters my mind while I'm posting. If you want to frame your agreeing with me as some sort of win by insisting you told me why I was right then have at it... I didn't say place of birth was a predictor of skill. You said that and projected it falsely on my position. I've gone out of my way since the beginning to indicate I would take a Canadian player of relatively equal skill over another player from _________. I did forget and it wasn't worth the effort going back on my phone to look. When I could simply comment again on that aspect of the post which you consistently don't acknowledge. Which, I assume, for an argumentative individual like yourself must mean that you tacitly agree but want to argue about language and other peripheral nonessentials rather than acknowledge the core point. We have players on this team massively overpaid in dollars and term with those Michigan connections which means no real hometown discount. It's a factor not the only one, I'm not worried about NHL players jobs. They make gobs of money to play a game... they don't need defending.

I didn't "admit" anything and it's not asinine... all things being equal why wouldnt you take the kid from the top hockey nation. You must be a lawyer or politician by trade with your talent for twisting what people say. Yes rink size was on my mind.... it is after all where the game is played (you may not be aware). Truthfully I'm not sure what language I used about the pay of some of our Michigan scrubs... but that does not change the fact that Abby and Glenny are paid too much for too long for what they are, with DKs regression he may back his way onto that list also... management can't be blamed there though. Which blows a mile wide hole in the hometown discount notion.

Posters are welcome to disagree, but that's how I'd go about it. To put it in context... I'd take Crosby in the crunch over Ovechkin. I'd take Marchand over Kane if I needed a goal in the last 5 minutes in a do or die game. You're welcome to disagree... but it doesn't change my opinion nor does it make my opinion wrong. All this draft talk may be a waste of time if we keep winning games... this reminds me of the leafs of old... once the playoffs are out of reach win some games and pick 12th, then repeat.

Yes. But if this were another sport maybe basketball then your nationality would be irrelevant. Because the conclusion would make sense. Since my original point seems to be lost I said all things being equal I'd take the Canadian over the ___________.... and by the way rink size was on my mind when I said hockey environment. It was nice to see you agreed with me in the end though. On the Michigan ties... Abby and Glenny are over paid... which seems to fly in the face of the home town discount narrative, DK signed here due to Michigan ties... his play has warranted criticism and maybe even a seat in the pressbox. But on here I've read posts from people saying well he signed here because of this and that treat him with kid gloves... which is foolish.

Actually you sorta make my point.... we don't have many or any high end Canadian (or any nationality) players on our team... I point at this as something to address. Of the players you've mentioned only Zetterberg is/was a star. Kronwall was close to that status soley because he is/was our best defenceman, which speaks to the state of our blue line. Tatar, Larkin, Abby are all average players... I was hopeful with Larkin but unless this is just a sophomore slump he's good but not great.

It's something this team has done with players that have Michigan connections.... rightly or wrongly. But none of those Michigan linked players are high end, though some are paid that way.

Sure you could say that, it wouldn't make much sense...it's a statement that is counter to hockey orthodoxy. That said it could be your opinion and it wouldn't be a problem. It certainly wouldn't be something I'd argue over for a page and a half.

I'm not afraid to admit I'm canadian, I just don't see what impact that has on what I've said. My statement on culture and environment would be correct regardless of my nationality. I'm guessing you must be American given your argumentative demeanour... don't be afraid to admit it bro

I'm not from Ontario. I don't owe you or anyone an answer, I stated my opinion, and frankly I don't care if you agree or disagree. All other things being relatively equal a mountain of anecdotal evidence says take the canadian.

This isn't a relevant question. If the talent level is equivalent, you take the canadian... that's my opinion. You take the canadian for the intangibles, growing up in an immersive hockey culture, being in an elite competitive environment from a young age, and though it's corney to say that old school canadian heart and will to win is a real factor. Again you seem to disagree, which is fine... that's you're opinion and I respect that...

Sure if you can't get a canadian. If I had a choice of comparable players I'd take the canadian every time... I gather you disagree, which is fine. But that's my opinion, which is fine.

it's a dynamic we don't have. I think we have our quota of marginal and/or overpaid players that are from Michigan.

It would be nice to have a high end Canadian talent on the team, it's been a long time. Tippett has dropped bigly to #20.