Hank

That's correct. It's only after they clear waivers a 2nd time (called back up) that the players salary is split between both teams. Phoenix is on the hook for 100% of his salary.

And score 20-25 goals (possibly more?). Every team in the league wishes they had a Lucic in their system. But I'm sure that all the Giants opponents are grateful he's out of the WHL for good. I'd hate to have to play this kid on a regular basis.

LOL. He's not a bad writer, I just get tired of how full of himself he is.

Did it go something like this: I hated how he would do that. He'd always repeat some line that he felt carried so much weight your head would explode from his genius. If I met Al-bomb I'd use him to rest my beer on his head.

Or growing his hair longer to cover up his Dumbo ears. Either that, or he's too busy writing a book where he lets everyone know he's better at appreciating life than anyone else on the planet. Al-bomb is an idiot and I'm glad he doesn't write much about the Wings. He once wrote an article about how the Wings should have dealt Fedorov before the 03 deadline because they should have known he'd fly the coop. Sure Dumbo. It makes a lot of sense to deal one of your top forwards before the playoffs on the CHANCE that he might not resign with you. Even if Fedorov flat-out told Holland "I won't be back" you still don't deal him. You just won the Cup the year before, you don't deal away your best players because they'll leave. Albom's an idiot and I hope he gets eternal wedgies from 5 People He'll Meet in Heaven when he dies.

I think they had Datsyuk listed as a defensman one year during a playoff preview. Nice. You'd never see them list Shawn Rogers as an RB or Brandon Inge as a RP.

How far down is Phoenix on the list? I think they've already made a move but if not, I'd assume they'd be interested.

Sorry Legionarre, I couldn't resist.

Here's the flipside to that. Small market teams can succeed with the new CBA, but they have to be supported. In other words, a team like Edmonton or Calgary are thriving in it because they sell out, and generate more offense than the average so they can get help from the assistance program. Nashville could be doing the same thing if the fans actually supported it. If they were selling out every night like the Flames, Oilers or Sabres they'd be fine too. But nobody in Nashville gives a banjo about hockey. It's one thing if a team is losing money despite selling out every night and the market is hockey mad. But it's entirely a different case when you're losing money and you get two people to show up for each game. MOVE THE TEAM!!!! It's a terrible eye sore on the league. I don't care if this new deal goes through and the team sticks around for another 3 years. It'll just be another 3 years of empty seats and little to no local and corporate support. The Preds are a bigtime anchor on this league. Small market teams can be successful but they have to actually want the team there. The Preds are 0-2 in that regard.

Gretzky thinks so too: http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/story/7442238 I couldn't agree more with this article.

Unfortunately, yes. I understand what Holland's thinking. You don't want to break up a successful core. But in my opinion (and it's entirely possible I'm wrong) most Wings fans want a young North American kid to hang their excitement on. I think Carter can be that player. He's only 22 and I believe he has more offensive potential than Filpulla (debatable). But I'd love to have him on this team.

Unless Carter has inoperable brain cancer I don't see him going for Kesler. Jeff Carter is a great, great young player. If the Flyers are truly shopping him around I certainly hope the Wings are looking into acquiring him. If Kesler is someone that interests them then I would hope that Filpulla is a viable option. Maybe even a package with Franzen somehow. Carter has 90-100 point talent. He just needs the right ingredients around him. And I for one would absolutely love to have this kid on my team. He fits the mold as far as the Canadian offensive player I've been praying for the Wings to grab.

And a No-Trade clause. Explain to me again how John Fergeson Jr. still has a job? I also have no idea how Maple Leaf fans can be that upset with McCabe. He's been making bone head plays like this since his first game in the league. If he isn't giving the puck away he's taking a stupid penalty. This guy is a black hole for any team. Whomever owns his services will never, ever win a Stanley Cup. Same goes with Tucker. You could get the puck deep idiot!!! These are mistakes that first or second year players make. Not 10 year vets who make close to $6M a year. Especially ones who have been given prime ice and top assignments for years. And yet, McStupid will make that exact same play the next time the situation arises. Guarenteed. He's simply too stupid to be a good defensemen in the NHL. I'd take Brent Lebda over McCabe any day of the week. Not only is Lebs cheaper but he's smart too. McCabe is a one-trick pony. If he's not firing one-timers in from the point on powerplays he's taking penalties and giving teams wins with poor decision making.

It doesn't help that the shoulder pads and shin guards that skaters wear are like flack jackets. I would venture to say that skaters today have better gear to stop shots than goalies did in the 80's. The only way you stop collapsing defenses is to create a "key" similar to the NBA and have illegal defenses called. And I'd sooner see the nets get bigger or 4-on-4 play instituted before that's done. P.S. The funny thing about Pat Roy is that the day after he retired he said the equipment is way too big and everything can be made smaller.

Well it was certainly nicer than the crap ESPN considers top 10 material. Two years ago they put a regular jump shot as their #3 highlight. It wasn't a buzzer-beater, the shooter didn't make a big steal. There was no great pass. No records were broken and it wasn't like it was the guys 15th 3 pointer in a row. It was simply an every day, ordinary, 3-pointer. The only reason it was in the top 10 was because ESPN had broadcast that particular game the night before. ESPN = WHORES.

That was a great segment on Stevie. I enjoy the NHL Network. I really like "On the Fly" so I can check out the best from each game around the league. But I wish they'd play more shows from yesteryear like "Chasing the dream". They would follow a minor league team and their players around showing the audience what it was like and what it took to make the NHL. It was great TV.

Thought some people might like this. At lunch I wastched Sporscenter on ESPN and guess what made the top 2 plays of the night? Two college basketball dunks that you would see in any quarter of any college bball game. Why? Because ESPN shows college hoops. Basically their top 10 will always consist of 8 things that they broadcast. So NHL or any other sport they don't promote will take up the last 2 spots. Remember Illya Kovalchuks' goal last week where he undressed Eminger for one of the nicest goals I've ever seen? I don't think it even made the top 5 plays that week. But a goal in the MLS (which ESPN broadcasts) was #1. It was a nice goal but Kovy's was WAY nicer.

The NHL needs to stop worrying about getting a massive national TV deal that MLB or the NFL have. The sport is very regional so they should concentrate on pleasing the states and areas that actually enjoy the game. And there's money out there for that as well. In Canada, the CBC pays around $100,000,000 a year for the rights. That's over $3M a year that goes in the owners pockets. I'm not saying that other places would pay that much but what if the NHL were to contract out their TV rights regionally instead of nationally? So the NHL would go into Michigan and offer a deal to the highest bidder among Fox Sports Net, Comcast, etc. But they would have to follow a certain format so no matter what State or city you were in, the broadcasts would look and feel the same. I might be talking out of my ass, but I think the NHL is missing the boat going after fans they'll never attract. The sport is what it is. It's wildly popular in some areas whereas in others, banjo contests are higher in interest.

I think so. It usually only takes a garbage goal to get some mojo back. Dats has a great shot. He just needs to use it more. But he has been shooting more than in years past so I'm sure this will be the beginning of some good things. One thing that might be holding him back is that he knows he has a sniper on his line. He'd rather pass to Z than take the shot himself. But maybe after this goal, he'll have more confidence in himself to finish some plays.

Excellent point. ESPN couldn't care less about hockey. And the truth is, even if it was on ESPN I doubt those two bars would be showing that game anyway. Hockey is a regional sport. No matter what the league does it's never going to be popular in places like Indiana, New Mexico or Tennessee.

Exactly. Unfortunately the majority of games don't feature anything that you described above either. Concerning the equipment, you seriously need to get your hands on some old equipment. Pictures do not do them justice. Like I mentioned I play floor hockey using old 80's goalie gear. And last season I subbed in as a goalie for a pickup ice-hockey game where I got to use some new stuff. It wasn't even close in comparison to size. The goalie that I borrowed stuff from is about 2 inches shorter than I am and at least 20 lbs lighter. And yet, I felt like I was swimming in gear. His trapper was a good 4-5 inches bigger in diamater than the one I use in floor hockey and the leg pads were a good 5-6 inches longer. I'm not the only one that has said this. Phil Esposito goes on and on about how the goalie gloves today are like a bushel basket. His own brother, Hall of Famer Tony Esposito says the same thing. From the trapper to the blocker to the length of the pads (not to mention the upper body equipment) everything is larger today.

Nobody's asking for 6-5 games every single night. But I don't like to watch constant 2-1 or 3-1 games with very little action invovled. Most of these games don't feature great saves or end to end action. Most of the time, they're boring affairs with little to no offensive flair and a couple of PP goals that go off everything in the rink but the kitchen sink. Maybe you're right. I think we all know that coaches are never going to abandon an easy way to win (defensive traps) just to thrill the fans. Their jobs and too much money is at stake. Less games might help somewhat. Players would be fresher and it wouldn't be necessary to play so conservatively because you wouldn't have as many back-to-back games as there is now. But I still think there doesn't need to be a 4th line. With 10 forwards and 6 dmen, you could still keep an enforcer in the lineup and when he's put on the ice, everyone in the building will know what for.

I loved that series too. The Wings and Leafs had so many classic playoff series in the 80's. And Gerard Gallant is my 2nd favourite Wing of all time. I actually had the honour of meeting him. Actually, I loved most of the guys in that era. I was a BIG Dirty Harry fan. My uncle actually played against him in the minors in the 70's. He said he was a tough SOB but a real nice guy off the ice. The Wings in the 80's weren't the best team but they were a lot of fun to watch. They were tough, mean and had a handful of skilled players that could dazzle the fans. RedWings Gone Wild, you coudl be right. Maybe things would be better with Olympic style ice. My only concern is that the game has already changed to a much more European flavour since import's starting coming over. The only thing missing now is their ice. I'm worried that if we went to 200x100 ice surfaces the NHL would look more like the RSL or SEL than the NHL. I'm not opposed to European players in the least. But it's very hard to argue that hockey was a lot more colorful and exciting when 95% of the league was made up of North American's.

I was worried about that too. I was starting to think that maybe my interest in hockey was waning. But I don't think it has at all. I still tune into the NHL network as much as possible. I can't wait to watch highlights in the morning. But when I try to watch a game (any game), I find myself getting lulled into sleep. What's funny is, last night they showed a classic series on the NHL network - the 1992 finals with the Pens and Blackhawks. It was awesome. Lots of flow. My love for hockey hasn't gone down, it's just that the level of hockey we're seeing cant' come close to what I grew up on. I'm not naive to think that this type of hockey will ever come back. I know it won't. But I am still holding out that one day the NHL will find a way to make teams want to open up and score more than 2 goals to win games. And for some reason, with Olympic Ice, that 25 foot slapper from the open man would suddenly go in? I might be wrong (Lord knows I am most of the time) but I just don't see Olympic Ice helping out. During the lockout Sportsnet broadcast some Swedish Elite games. To put it bluntly, they were horrible games. Now I know not every team was filled with NHL talent but there was enough that good games could happen. But because of the large ice surface the trap was more powerful than ever. I think I would turn my back on NHL hockey forever if it looked anything like those SEL games.

1. Soccer is the most popular sport in the world because a great, great majority of countries play it growing up. And most of them are impoverished countries that can only afford soccer. Think about it. One kid out of a village buys a soccer ball and suddenly 100 kids have something to do on a weekend. 2. The game you just described " It's all about scoring chances and opportunity, getting close to scoring but getting robbed, scoring a couple fantastic goals a game." happens once ever 25 games. If every game was like that, I'd have no issues. But the problem is, these games are few and far between. 90% of the 2-1 or 1-0 games out there feature boring hockey with the 1-4 or 1-2-2 and defensive zone traps that take any flow or creativity out of the game. Goalies rarely have to stand on their head because defenses and their overgrown pads are so good the puck will never make it to the net on a good quality chance. Look at most games these days and you'll see that on a good night 1 team might have 12 scoring chances. But most of the time, a 'scoring chance' isn't even a good one. They'll count a bad angle shot from 20 feet away as a scoring chance. But that's a routine save. I can still remember a time where when a good to great player was on the ice, they'd generate a scoring chance on every shift. I loved watching Wings games when Yzerman was in his offensive prime. There wasn't a useless shift as he would make something happen everytime he's on the ice. That can't be said about anyone now. I've seen games where Crosby might got 2 or 3 shifts without doing anything. And it's not because he isn't good - he's a phenomenal player. But every night he has to play against 5 skaters who want nothing to do with the puck. And in today's NHL with the advancement in equipment, faster backcheckers and defensive zone traps, even the best don't have much room to do anything out there. Sometimes I wonder how many people remember what hockey looked like 20 years ago. Are most fans here or on other boards so young that they've only been watching hockey for the past 10 years? Or do most fans only watch their team and nobody else? Because I seriously don't know how anyone can remember what hockey looked like in 87 compared to now and think today's game is even remotely as entertaining or suspenseful. 3 goal leads in the 3rd period were not a sure thing back then. Odd-man rushes happened all the time, goalies were forced to stand on their heads to get a shutout and offensive stars were dangerous on every shift. You can't say that now. The game today is so milktoast I have to force myself to watch some nights.