Hank

Thanks for posting this. It was a very interesting read. But I couldn't help but laugh over all the complaining about the travel and time differences. This is what teams like Detroit and Columbus (not to mention every PST team) has to put up with all year long. Suck it up!

Grigs when he found out he was drafted by the Wings.

Me too. It'll be nice to finally see whether he has it or not. And if he doesn't then he can go back to Russia and all the arguing can stop. It's time for Grigs to put up or shutup.

LOL! Gary, when can we expect teams in New Mexico, Mexico, Africa and Japan?

Bob Clarke quit his job because he realised he couldn't wrap his tiny brain around the complex CBA. Sure, when he had an open wallet he could do whatever he wanted, but with restrictions, he had no clue. He must have spent hours going over the CBA hoping that they'd make a Coles Notes version or at least include pictures. Let's see some of the 'great' moves he did: - signed Hatcher and Rathje after the NHL said that obstruction would be eliminated. Both guys turned into huge busts because they couldn't outskate an elephant on ice - traded for Chris Gratton how many times? - mispronounced his 2006 first round draft pick at the draft. All of the players that the Flyers have drafted have come from the scouting staff, not Clarke. A GM is in charge of signing players and dealing them. When he had a chance to sign Cujo in the mid 90's he signed a shot Vanbiesbrook instead. He traded half his roster for Lindros and then ridiculed him until he had no option but to leave. Clarke would be great as a commish for comedy reasons only. This job needs intelligence, something Clarke has none of. If any former players should be commish we should look at Ken Dryden.

The only issue with Doan being dealt is that the Coyotes are right at the floor of the Cap. If they deal him they'd need a big ticket player in return. Filpulla, Hudler, Kronwall really don't match that - unless you give up all of them. If Doan is going to be dealt he'll more than likely go for someone like Dats. And we all know that won't happen. Besides, it's very rare a team will deal with another team in their conference. If Doan were to get dealt (which I still doubt) I'd expect him to go to the East for someone who's close in age and salary.

I knew this was going to happen after last nights 4-0 loss. I don't think the Thrashers total collapse in the playoffs last year helped much.

Or so Putin would want you to believe.

I agree. If we had to deal away Filpulla, Hudler and a 1st, I'd be okay with that. Especially if we snagged Feds from the Bjackets at the deadline. Fedorov-Datsyuk-Homer Franzen-Zetterberg-Doan Cleary-Draper-Sammy Drake-Kopecky-Malts Cup anyone?

But that's the kind of package it would take to yank Doan from Phoenix. One or a collection of the following players would be needed to get him: Filpulla, Kronner, Howard, Girgs, Hudler, Ericsson, Quincy, Lebda, Smith, draft pics. Sammy/Lilja and a pick would get us a coupon for a Big Mac, not Doan. EDIT: And I guarentee you if we did somehow land Doan, Babcock would not put our 3 best players together. The whole purpose of getting him is to give us more depth. Dats and Zetts would be separated immediately.

If they want to prove to the players and fans that these skates actually work they should have Jason Allison wear them for a game. If he's able to keep up with the zamboni then we know it's going to work.

I spotted Grig at Cheli's last night.

You may be right. But for all we know, his deal has a lot of incentives in there so that he could make more money in the NHL than in Russia. He was making $1M over there but here he could easily make over that if he scores 20 goals or more. Still, the fact that he couldn't make this team when Holland and co. basically gave him a roster spot says something about his commitment to NHL hockey. All he had to do was show up in shape. Hundreds of other Russians and Europeans do it every year so there's no excuse for that. I don't care how much of a cultural difference there is. A treadmill is a treadmill in any country. He's played with former and current NHLers in international tournaments the last couple of years. I'm sure someone on those teams gave him the impression that you have to be in shape to survive in the NHL. This experiment is nearly over. I hope Grigs can turn it around but I don't see him sticking around much longer after November 1st if he's still struggling to put up points in Grand Rapids making $80,000 US. $1M can pay for a lot of moving expenses for him and his family. Besides, I hear the McDonalds in Russia has larger Big Macs. I'm sure he can't wait to chomp in to one of those.

Absolutely. Does anyone think that Cheechoo would be a 50 goal scorer without Big Joe? If you put Doan in SJ and Cheech in Phx their numbers would be reversed. Doan with Dats or Zetts would be awesome. But, like someone else already pointed out, I highly doubt we have enough goods to grab Doan. They'd want a hefty penny for his services and I wouldn't blame them. He hits, fights and has 40 goal talent when paired with the right guy. I don't know any other teams that would like that combo. And Phoenix isn't exactly a hockey hotbed. He once was quoted saying that before he retires he'd love to play in a great hockey market. If that's true, I'm still not sure why he resigned with the 'dogs.

I guess I'm an old fuddy-duddy but I don't like this. Skates with microchips? Players are already wicked fast so with even more speed we'll see more concussions and easier backchecking. I'm one of the few that thinks there should be less technological advances. Get rid of the composite sticks, the hard armour used in shoulder pads and elbow pads and shrink the goalie gear. All of these things have done nothing but hurt the sport, not help. Soon players will be so fast that they'll be forced to play on Olympic size ice making the transformation of NHL hockey into European hockey complete. If you think the trap is bad now, wait until we get a bigger ice surface.

Part of the problem is that he knows he has an out clause and $1M US tax-free dollars waiting for him over in the CCCP. And he knows that the Wings are going to give him a shot in the NHL before November 1st. He has absolutely no motivation to perform well in Grand Rapids. And we know he's not going to push himself as the shape he arrived in is evident to how much drive and self discipline he possesses.

I applaud Cheli for standing up for something when it made him less than popular amongst his peers. But I fear that Chelios wants the PA to act as it did during the Goodenow era where the relationship between the union and the league was icy at best. The league is doing well and the players are being paid handsomely. I don't want Cheli to pick a leader that is only interested in being a thorn in the league's side. That will only serve to hurt the league. I hope the two sides can continue to operate as a partnership so that a work stoppage never happens again. But I get a bad feeling that with the direction the PA is taking, icy slopes are ahead.

I can't believe anyone's surprised at McCabe's blunder. What's truly surprising is that he's on the PK. I've never seen a guy, who's so horrible defensively, get played so much in defensive situations. I've said it a thousand times, but I guess I'll repeat myself, it's still a wonder to me how much money was thrown at him. This guy could be one of the worst players 5-on-5 players in the NHL. Outside of the PP, he has negative value to any team. From his horrible defensive play to his love affair with taking stupid penalties, this guy is easily the most overpaid professional athlete on the planet. I think I'd even take Yashin for $7.5M a year over McCabe.

I could see the Wings making a pitch for a guy like Michael Ryder. He's going to be a UFA and I don't see the Habs making the playoffs. He'd be a nice fit with either Datsyuk or Zetterberg. EDIT: If the Wings did pick up Ryder at the deadline he'd only cost them $612,000 for the remainder of the season. That leaves plenty of room if Detroit wanted to pick up a guy like Forsberg. Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Homer Hudler-Forsberg-Ryder Cleary-Filpulla-Sammy Drake-Franzen-Maltby NICE!

You think you're mad? I grabbed Chris Mason in my pool and looked like a genius after week 1. It didn't take him long to get tossed on my reserve list after week 2. I think he gave up 14 goals in his last 3 games. Meanwhile, I had sat Vokoun for him this week and all he did was get 2 wins including a shutout. Man do I hate hockey pools!!!

This line just killed me! The Preds have done nothing but SUCK money from this community and now they're asking for more. Freeman is the absolute definition of hypocrite. I'm sure there are a lot more than 12,000 people in Nashville and yet all the tax payers are being asked to shell out even more money to keep a franchise, that nobody wants, around for a few more years. I know I'd be ticked off if I saw more and more money come out of my pocket for a team I cared nothing about to remain in my city. It's quite obvious that Nashville doesn't like hockey and could care less about the Predators. The only people that care about this team are rich dudes who are trying to suck even more money of the city or guys like Ballsillie who are at least honest and want to move it to a place that actually likes the sport. Hell, Hamilton didn't even have the team yet and they sold 15,000 vouchers in less than 48 hours. Nashville can't get 12,000 people to the rink on a nightly basis despite actually owning the team. And this is after being told point-blank "Come to the arena or you will lose your team". Hahahaha! I guess the local wittlin' contest was too good to pass up.

Mexico City would be just as good as Nashville. I'm sure they could get 12,000 fans out a night too.

I've never got the impression that Devellano is a blow-hard who makes stuff up. He's always very straight-forward with his thoughts. I'm sure Bettman did tell Jimmy D. that they would move them over there, but this is Bettman speaking out of both ears.

I like it. Good suggestion!

As long as they're winning I think they should stay together. But I have to say that with Z and Dats on the same line, the other 3 lines are pretty boring to watch. Filpulla isn't even close to being ready to anchor a #2 line in this league and Hudler seems to be suffering without Zetts. But might as well let it ride until things come off the rails.