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Everything posted by Hank
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Hasek was traded for and Hull and Luc were both UFA's. But in regard to Hull and Luc compared to some recent UFA's like Gomez, Briere and Drury, neither of those two guys were asked to carry the team. They weren't marquee UFA's. They were great contributors, yes, but were not asked to shoulder the offensive load. With Drury, Gomez and Briere, all 3 of these guys will be looked on as top line players. Players that will have to produce big numbers or they'll be a bust. All 3 got close to $8M a year (or more) whereas Hull and Robitaille were signed for far more modest contracts. It's much easier to sign a UFA to come in and be part of a nucleas of well established vets and contribute in smaller doses than come to a new team and be told "you're the man! Make this team win!".
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That's an interesting deal to discuss. At the time nobody knew about Jiri's heart condition and a lot of people still thought Fischer could become a Chara like force in the league. And everyone knew Datsyuk's upside. I still would have done it because I'm a homer for Thornton. But back then it was a tough choice.
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I watched this show and I almost fell off my couch when Milbury and Healey picked the Rangers to win the Cup. Talk about Homer picks! But it wasn't a surprise to hear these two bobo's pick them. Milbury has a history of trying to win by spending $$$ and Healey loves any team that spends lots of $$$ (NHLPA homer). I think the Rangers will be a very good team but bringing in two brand new UFA's is a tricky thing. Outside of Scott Neidermayer I can't think of too many UFA signings that ended up being worth their money (Selanne is another one). For all we know these two could take some time to mesh and the Rangers will falter early on. And let's not mention that their defense isn't all that hot. Sure, they'll be able to score but defense wins Cups. I liked how so many picked the Wings but as of right now it's wide, wide open. Too many good teams. But I agree with Maguire, if the Wings get Forsberg, that could be the missing piece.
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Neither can I. But then I forgot the most important ingredient in that entire trade - Keenan. NEVER underestimate this mans stupidity. He basically kicked him out of town with how he treated him in contract negotiations and then he deals him for nobody. If I were a Flames fan I'd be shaking in fear at the thought Keenan getting his foot in the GM door. I'm so glad Devellano didn't think Iron Mikey was a good fit here.
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Chalk me up as another person that would have dealt, and would still deal Datsyuk for Luongo. I have nothing against Dats but goaltending will win you more Cups than one dynamic scorer. And I think with our depth, we would have found a way to still score enough goals to win the Cup or get to the conference finals. I'm a HUGE Crosby fan but I thought Luongo deserved to win the Hart trophy. That guys has the ability to win you games all on his own. He beat Dallas pretty much on his own. Imagine what he would do with the Wings with Lidstrom, Rafalski, Krownall and Chelios in front of him? And we have more scoring depth than Vancouver. Hasek was awesome for us last spring but I can't help but think that Luongo would have made the saves that Hasek's snow-angels let in.
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I'm glad you realise that we're just joking around with the stereotypes. It's all in jest. It's true that there are plenty of minor league, semi-pro teams in the south that are doing fine. But those leagues are a different bird compared to NHL hockey. First, the tickets are much, much cheaper. You can bring the whole family down, have a few pops and hotdogs and it probably won't cost more than $40. Secondly, the hockey is much different too. Lots more fights, no defensive systems (well, not as much) so the hockey is a little more sloppy and results in more goals,more hits, and again, more fights. This line of thinking even transcends into Canada where you have NHL cities, AHL cities and CHL cities. I live close to Windsor and it's a junior city through-and-through. The Spitfires do very well, but if the AHL came, it wouldn't do so hot. In the end, trying to force pro hockey into the south hasn't worked the way the NHL had liked. Some teams were received pretty well (Lightning, Stars) and some not so well (Thrashers, Preds, Panthers). This is why I hope the BOG and NHL Brass take this into consideration when they expand. Don't go to a market that doesn't have any strong ties to minor hockey (as in kids). There should be some grassroots programs already in place and a general love of the sport. That's why I'll always trumpet the push to states like the Dakota's, Wisconsin or Maine before KC or Nevada.
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I remember hearing that too. I can't help but laugh at what Florida DID end up getting for Luongo. How do you go from "We want Pavel" to "We'll take a 5th defenseman and a broken Bertuzzi (who's about to become a UFA)"? Hahahaha! Keenan's so stupid.
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The difference is that racing has roots in all those places you mentioned. And almost anyone I know has done at least raced on go-carts or bumper cars. Also more people can relate to racing because most people drive. That's not the case with hockey. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that most fans of a sport grew up with that sport. It's why soccer, cricket or rugby will always be huge in the UK or India but not in North America. It's the same reason that hockey's popular in certain areas of the states and not in others. It's very, very hard to jam a sport down people's throats and expect them to like it. Hockey could exist in Nashville for the next 100 years and people still won't care about it. It's not in their social fabric. I also have some theories on why NASCAR is very popular in some parts and I know some people won't like my opinion, but here goes: The main one is that it's nothing but white good-ole-boys. Hockey is almost all white but nearly 40% of them are European. Hillbilly Jack can't relate to Igor Frogolov, but he can sure relate to someone with 2 first names and ends in Jr.
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Not me! I'd buy the Preds and then fold them. I imagine all the hockey fans world-over would send me money thanking me for putting this team and the NHL out of it's misery for ever having it in the league. How much more is it going to take before Bettman and the BOG become incredibly embarrassed about this whole situation? And when is it going to become clear to them that if they want to sell this POS franchise they're going to have to allow it to be moved. I mean, the local interest group was even looking into getting clauses added so they could move it out of town! And they're FROM NASHVILLE!!!! I feel horrible for guys like David Poille. This dude has done an amazing job building this team. You put this club in any other hockey market and the fans are loving it. So much young talent and upside. Instead, he has to watch his masterpiece play in front of 8,000 fans a night while most of the locals are either at a 'fiddle contest' or banjo lessens.
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LOL. Thanks. I'm going to send this to my wife so she knows that I'm not a complete idiot all the time.
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Maybe Mack can clarify this but one of my die-hard Leaf buddies claims that Maurice has been trying McCabe as a forward on a few occassions in training camp. Rumour has it it's because of how brutal he is in his own zone. This is the first time I've heard anything of this nature. Has anyone else? I guess this wouldn't be mind blowing as both Gary Leeman and Wendel Clark were two former Leafs that were drafted as dmen only to be moved up front.
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LOL! It would be interesting that's for sure. I think I wrote about this earlier but a former mob-boss once said that no sports teams should be in Vegas. It would be too easy to get some of the athletes 'over a barrel'. How hard would it be to get evidence of Pronger with his head between some male-strippers legs? Not hard. Bingo! The Mob's get a grip around his scrawny ostrich-neck.
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I totally agree with you. And for the record I don't want a team in Vegas. But I guess if I had the choice between Vegas and Albuquerque, New Mexico, I'd pick Vegas because of the glitz it brings. And like you said, it would be much better to stick an exhisting team in Sin City rather than an expansion team where it could take years to be competitive. Bettman's an idiot. I've defended him on a lot of things but I can't anymore. Hockey needs a hockey commissioner. I still think the league is better off, on a national scale, with secure teams in small markets than instable teams in large markets. Even Joe Smith in Houston, TX knows that Quebec City or Hamilton are good hockey towns and I know they would watch a NY Rangers-Winnipeg final more than they would an Atlanta-WInnipeg final. HOCKEY markets draw in fans, not BIG TV markets.
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I understand the desire to put a team in Vegas. I don't agree with it but Vegas has a lot more upside than Nashville. There's more money and it is higher in profile to spread the NHL name across the States. But I'm tired of teams going to smaller, less glamourous, non-hockey markets when Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo or Quebec would be easy choices. Or what about other states like Maine, North Dakota or Wisconsin? All of those states have a rich hockey tradition and would do fine, IMO. But no, we get 2 teams in Florida, 1 in Georgia and Tennessee and now there's talks of a team going into Kansas City. What a joke.
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At least 4 more times. It's a good thing the NHL kiboshed the sale to Ballsillie. Afterall, he wanted to pay $50M more than the latest offer, has a bottomless pit for money and LOVES hockey. What a horrible prospective owner! I didn't catch the whole segment but on Hockey this morning on XM204 the guys were saying that ticket sales are not that great for the Preds and if everything continues the way it has, they won't meet the minimum 14,000 seats. What more has to be said or done to prove that Nashville is a terrible hockey market? Outside of the 5,000 diehards the state/city have, nobody could give a rats ass about professional hockey in that area. It's time to save the Preds and move them to a city that really wants hockey.
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Or the John Tavares sweepstakes. But I really like Hanzel and Mueller. The Coyotes have some bright spots. But it'll be a while before they're a good team. They could even be the Hamilton Coyotes by then.
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Kutcher, another huge difference between football and hockey head-hits is that: 1. Football player helmets are a lot more protective than hockey helmets. 2. Hockey players are moving at almost 3 times the speed football players are. 3. Football players don't have to worry about unmoveable endboards to get slammed into. Shoulder to head hitting needs to be taken out of the game. However, there is still some room for it. If Briere is skating with his head down and Chara puts his shoulder into him, there's a great chance that his shoulder will hit his head because of the size difference. He shouldn't be penalized for that. But the hits similar to Downie's where they propel themselves upwards so their shoulders hit them in the head, needs to end. Besides the thought of someone getting killed one day a lot of these players are dealing with past concussions years after they occur. Geoff Courtnall had a doctors test in 2005 for concussion symptoms. He had been retired for 5 years. I love physical hockey. But I love clean physical hockey. Not some of the garbage we've seen lately.
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Excellent decision! As everyone here knows I've always been a faithful Datysuk supporter!
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I'm not sure if any of you heard this interview, but last night on XM204, Ken Daniels said he believes the wings will keep 8 defenseman on their roster and that Sopel and Meech will be the two extra. Not only that, but he said that Jonathon Ericcson will be a top 4 dman in the league in the next couple of seasons. He feels that the Wings blueline will be one of the best for years to come as Kindl, Ericsson and Quincy are can't miss NHL defenseman. He also mentioned that he believes Grigs wants to stay in North America regardless of which team he's on after November 1st. But he did say that he thinks Grigs will be on the opening night roster. Just thinking of what K.D. said about our future D, I'm very excited about it to. In about 5 years our defense will look like this: Rafalski, Kronwall, Quincy, Kindl, Ericsson and possibly Brad Smith. And there's also a good chance Lidstrom is still around too. That's a pretty solid D corp.
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It might just mean that since you have Centre Ice, and you're out of the Toronto region, that you can watch it. But I could be wrong. It's never happened before though.
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I agree. But I think it'll be a long, long time before that ever happens. But I do think you have to look into a players past even if it wasn't in the NHL. A 5 game or even a 10 game suspension would teach someone like Downie nothing. He'll still make that hit over and over again. 20 games will make this caveman think twice before losing his cool. And it also serves a notice to the entire league that you better watch how you conduct yourself. Saying all of this, I do feel bad for Downie. Not only does have to serve 20 games but he gets to look forward to eating a few McGratton right-hands in the not so distant future. Wow! That quote was perfection. I hope Downie reads all of this. That is, if he CAN read.
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LOL! I'm sorry. I'll stop now. But for whatever reason I...can't....look...away.... Van Damme for "Dancing With the Stars" 2008!
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Even Van Damme likes this ruling!
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I think it still sends a message. Players like Latendresse and Armstrong will think twice before nailing a guy in 'death valley'. It might also prevent certain players from aiming their shoulders into an opponents face. You're right that they won't do anything to idiots like Pineapple head when he elbows or smacks someone. But these hits where players come up and into a guys jaw need to stop. I surely hope this suspension makes a dent in that line of thinking. Good points. I just hope the NHL was using your line of thinking when it came to this decision.
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I tend to agree. If he's not ready now, he'll never be ready. He gets one month to get his fat ass in shape. If he's still struggling at this level then cut him loose. Our top 2 scoring lines are doing pretty well so far. Grigs is going to have to do a lot to transplant Franzen, Homer, Sammy and Hudler from the top 4 winger positions.