haroldsnepsts

I picked a couple of examples from a quick search on youtube, but I'm obviously not saying that's the only reason. For the 12 or so minutes he's on the ice, he manages quite a few and has had a reputation for several years now. He dives, runs guys, jumps them instead of squaring up in fights. He's gotten slightly better but is still a dirty player. I can't remember the last player Detroit signed that I disliked as much as Tootoo.

You have to wait to the 37 sec mark to really appreciate how awful a dive the first one was.

They still have a couple weeks so who knows, but it seems unlikely the season would start on time. And I'm not really clear on whether or not the owners kept the other insane parts of their initial offer. 10 years until reaching UFA status. 5 year rookie contracts, etc.

thank you for proving my point.

From last season: He's had a few Ribiero worthy play acting too. Well beyond just diving, but faking an injury.

Am I missing something? How do teams, who were basing their decisions on the projected $70 million cap, shed $10+ million without any salary rollback? The new NHL deal also includes redefining what constitutes hockey related revenue. So when they say the eventual split is 50/50, that's not really the case. They're taking money out of the pot while also asking the players to take less of it. And it sounds like the NHL's proposal still didn't address revenue sharing. This offer at least doesn't sound completely insane. But the league is standing firm on ignoring revenue sharing as a solution and expect the players to bear the burden of saving these struggling franchises by "partnering" with the league. The only hope is Bettman won't be commissioner then, otherwise, I wouldn't make any hockey-based plans in 2019.

And then 2019, lockout.

The league presented a new proposal to the union today. hopefully this one is at least somewhat close to realistic. Fehr said it's one they intend to respond to, but didn't get into details. http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=403993 https://twitter.com/aaronward_nhl

You could include Karlsson on the list. Great season for a promising young player, but Norris worthy??

Considering the Wings signed one of the biggest divers in the league this offseason and Kesler is still in the league, I think Brown is safely out of the top spot. Brown unfortunately is prone to Maltby like antics, embellishing crosschecks and willing to take a punch to the face to draw a penalty, but I wouldn't even put him in the top five for diving in the league. It's just annoying he does it at all because unlike the 4th liners who do it, Brown has a lot of great qualities to his game.

20 points in the playoffs (tied for 1st in playoffs with Kopitar), +16, several game changing hits, kills penalties and plays on the PP. He was a force in the postseason. As the captain of the Cup winning team he's going to get a lot of attention but I haven't heard anyone make it sound like he's Gretzky or anything. Off the top of my head my vote would be Fleury. A talented but inconsistent goalie. What good is a highlight reel save when you let in a backbreaking softie a few minutes later?

I think that gets to the heart of it. With the floor they're trying to force owners to put together a competitive team and not just take revenue sharing while writing off the losses as they rake money in on their arenas. Just because a franchise isn't profitable doesn't mean it can't be. Or that the owner's intent is to run a franchise in a way that appears profitable. It's one of owners many holdings. It's not necessarily in their best interest to look like they're turning a massive profit.

The thing is, I don't think Bettman even wants to get rid of the floor. In the NHL's proposal cap floor is lowered but in his quest for parity it seems like he doesn't trust all the owners to put a competitive team on the ice. And I'm guessing it has to do with revenue sharing too. I honestly don't know if it's needed or not. In theory I could see how it would make a team spend the money to put a decent product on the ice. But it also seems to inflate salaries as a team under the floor overpays for a player or two to get up to the cap floor. At the very least it should be lowered, but any new CBA would almost certainly have it lowered as they reduce the cap limit.

I think Kopitar would make a better captain but I'm not kidding myself. I'm not saying Brown didn't dive but he hardly flopped his way through the playoffs. You make it sound like he's Kesler out there.

Brown dives for sure. It's embarrassing, especially coming from a captain. But he hardly flopped his way through the playoffs. There were a couple plays, but honestly I thought he was better than usual regarding diving in the postseason.

I think you're being too generous. I don't think Bettman has: changed the violent image of the game - concussions anyone? forced enlightened self-interest on the owners - another lockout looming greatly due to an absurdly unrealistic proposal by ownership settled the divisive issue of Olympic involvement - isn't that up in the air too? By my count he's actually done three of those. sell the product in more mainstream marketplace, expanded contact with European leagues and markets, and added expansion teams (one of which has already failed).

There's a lot of flawed logic in this post, but I'll respond for now to the lowest hanging fruit, which is the players role in all of this. Typically the players complaining about getting hit in the head aren't the ones who are headhunting. I don't remember Raffi Torres saying they need to protect players heads. You're talking about hundreds upon hundreds of people here. They're not all going to speak with the same voice and play the game the same way. As long as headhunting and running at guys gets a 4th liner more minutes and an NHL contract, there'll be dirtbags willing to do it. That's pretty much how competition works. Most players want to do almost anything they can to win, but there's also a mutual respect (among most) as professional hockey players. Haven't you ever seen to guys drop the gloves and go at it, then pat each other on the back when the fight ends? There's a big difference between trying to win a game and dealing with your career and financial well being. In the latter they all have similar interests, the former they don't. How exactly are they self absorbed?? Are they too busy checking their reflection in a mirror or writing in their diaries to hear what Bettman is saying? And I have no idea what playing overseas has to do with anything. No one is portraying these guys to be saints, but the players are nowhere near as guilty as the other parties. They don't put a gun to anyones head when they're offered a contract. They made massive concessions in the last CBA. Not just the cap, but linking that cap to revenue while having absolutely zero say in how the team or league is run. Yes of course they're self interested. They want their fair share of the pie. But in the list of culprits for a potential lockout, Bettman and most franchise owners are at the very top and the players are at the very bottom. Fehr and the union leadership are somewhere in the middle.

What do you think is the real problem? Because the union's offer addressed what is the biggest problem with revenue sharing. Their offer seemed basically like "we'll cut you guys a break for a few years and help you sort out these struggling franchises, then we'll revert back to the all the concessions we made 8 years ago." It didn't go far enough as I don't think reverting to the current CBA is a long term solution, but it was definitely acknowledging the problem, and is a solid starting point for negotiating.

It's going to be hard for the refs to catch all of it during the game. It's why I think they should review tapes. Some will be borderline for sure, but the most blatant dives are pretty obvious. Review the tape, fine the player and embarrass him publicly since he embarrassed the refs and the game of hockey by diving.

If it's confirmed from a legit source I can move it back or someone can start a new thread.

A blues blogger is not a legit source to me. Unless this rumor is confirmed by someone more substantial, I'm gonna move it to the Rumors forum. I also changed the topic title to more accurately represent the source. Anyone hearing about this anywhere else?

Standard Bettman playbook. "Lockout lockout lockout. Passive aggressive pot shot at the union. We have the greatest fans, that's why I'm able to treat them like s***. Because I know they'll take the abuse and come crawling back for more." The NHLPA's proposal certainly isn't perfect but it's a starting point. Throw in some contract limits and modify reverting to the current CBA and you're really close to being done. The NHL's stance is "thanks for all those concessions in 2004 guys, now empty your pockets. This time we promise we'll figure out how to run a successful franchise."

I don't think anyone is surprised lockout is being mentioned given Bettman's history and his readiness to threaten it.

It seems like Bettman has good business acumen. Not everything has been a success but the league's revenue has greatly increased each year. They just need someone who can speak publicly without coming off like a condescending ass and is more of a diplomat. Instead Bettman never hesitates to tell the fans how we feel about the game, to take a shot at the NHLPA whenever possible, and to threaten lockout every time a CBA expires. His job isn't just about legalities and business management. He is supposed to get 30 owners, some of them well documented idiots, to generally agree and work in the best interest of the league. That's where he fails pretty regularly.

Actually that's exactly my point. He seems to be the luckiest hockey player on the planet. I didn't watch many Hawks games but it seems like when I did, Hossa would carry the puck up ice, deke some defenseman, get off a great shot as everyone piled on the goalie, then Kopecky would slam home the rebound sitting in front of a wide open net. Of course falling down as he was doing it. I don't think he's a particularly good player but he ends up with Hossa in Chicago, then gets a 4 year $3 million contract in Florida. With the Hawks he got icetime his play didn't really warrant, and with Florida he gets a 4 year contract his play doesn't really warrant.