sibiriak

Given the situation that all parties have found themselves in, the rational thing for Nabokov to do is to stay home for another week or two, make the Isles management believe that he is serious about not reporting. Then if they don't relent, and if the case goes to the league for arbitration, he might as well report to the Isles, play for the 2 months or less, then be a FA for the next season. It's not worth it to anyone to risk that the league would roll over his contract to the next year, and he would actually have to play for NYI for a whole year. So for now we can all be spectators in a competitive game of chicken b/w Nabokov and Snow/Wang.

Well, they didn't have to, because that team wasn't there. Russians beat the team that Canada did send and got gold medals to show for it. In the hypothetical, I really don't think it would have made all that much of a difference. Lack of skill, especially on offense, wasn't the problem for Canada in the gold medal game. They scored 9 goals in 2 games on the Russians. Your team choked, team defense and goaltending broke down in the 3rd period. The same exact team had no problem dominating Russia in the round robin game and in the first half of the final. Unless you had an Yzerman-type leader to put on this team, no amount of skill would have saved you. And a better psychologist for a coach wouldn't have hurt. So lick your wounds, Canada, accept your inferiority for the moment, and come back stronger next year. You are usually good at that.

What happened to the usual Canadian mantra of "we could have put 3 equally good teams on the ice"? Save the ifs and the buts for NHL2011 on the XBox. Canada sent the team it did, that team was very good, good enough to dominate Russia for 1 1/2 games. The reason they lost wasn't lack of talent. In Quebec Sr Canadian WC team laid almost as big an egg leading by 2 goals and losing in the final. You lost. Deal with it. I can respect a Canadian saying: "We'll get you next year". And you quite likely will. But quit this excuse-mongering. You send the best team you can to every tournament. Other countries have their own problems, and they send the best teams they can. The very best team at that moment in time is the one who won gold. By the time the next tournament rolls along, everyone starts from the same level again. C'est la vie.

Again, Canadians have all the reasons in the world to THINK that they'll win. But what comes across as arrogant, is SAYING so ALOUD before the tournament even starts. Or even worse saying so after having lost Basic Sportsmanship 101: Be humble, do not toot your own horn, do not brag BEFORE the game, just humbly accept praise AFTER you've actually won. And yes, I was slightly embarassed by all the goings on after the Russian win. But they are still kids and they did just pulled a miracle. So they get a pass from me for that.

Really, no one outside Canada really cares how the Canadian team is selected. Whatever the excuses, the team in the OG or WC is the best team Canada managed to assemble at that time. So when they win, credit goes to them, and when they lose, credit goes to the winners. If hockey actually is a religion in Canada, then I don't understand why the NHL stops for Christmas and not for the WC or WJC .

I just couldn't resist. I'd never have thought that I would need to explain to a Canadian (them being known as humble polite self-effacing chaps, usually) that saying "we should win this tourney" IS arrogant, while saying "we think we have a good chance to win this tourney" is polite and doesn't raise everyone elses' hackles. It's not arrogant to believe that you'll win. It IS arrogant to say that publically before the fact. /end etiquet lesson

??? Lou Lamoriello is NJ GM. He is in charge of the contracts, salaries and cap compliance. He is the one responsible for Kovalchuk's contract. (Although rumor has it that the NJ owner made Lou do it.) Lemaire is a coach who replaces John McLean. He has nothing to do with the cap. And when the whole team, not just Kovalchuk is playing like crap, the coach is the part that needs changing. So in comes Jacques Lemaire. He knows the players and the players know his system, and they were successful in the past playing within that system.

Come on. Usually, the press conference room is close to the locker rooms in most arenas. Which means that OV, Semin and Kovalchuk were talking in front of one of the locker rooms. What can be more natural than that? Why would they even think about going elsewhere, it's not like they were smoking dope or something. They were just having a conversation. I swear, hockey fans are crazy. I remember few years back a European player (whose name I forgot) had dinner a night before the game with his brother who was playing on the opposing team. The similar type of uproar followed as we see now. This is ridiculous. And if you look up the stats, last season only 211 of 879 NHL players averaged more than 0.5 Pts/G. This season only about 190 are on pace to exceed that, so far.

They were talking in the hallway, not "in front of" Boudreau. Lighten up. Just how far away from the locker rooms do the players have to go to suit you? Given that OV was involved, they would have to have been clear on the other side of the building for his voice not to be heard by everyone around, especially the press, with their sound-amplifying microphone thingies. And 3 points in 6 games, with 17 SOG, can be called a "slump" only if it's Ovechkin. 4/5 of the players in the league would be thrilled to have stats like that.

According to the TSN article, 23 NHL teams currently have cheerleaders. 30 teams - 6 Canadian teams = 24. That means that all but 1 US based teams have cheerleaders. Guess which American team doesn't have them?

I think, Pavel is sending a message to the awards selection committee:"I don't want none of them stinking lady Bing trophies no more".

Riiight, and the players of other nationalities bust their humps in every game regardless of whether it is a contract year or not. Oh, wait...

Just paint the whole neutral ice blue and be done with it.

Thanks for the explanation.

What is a "long line change" in this context? On the fly only? The teams switch sides for OT so the benches are farther away from their defensive zones?

Stamkos had 1 good year and is playing on a rookie contract. Gaborik has a rep as "fragile" (avg 64 games/season) and still makes 7.5 mil./yr. Neither is a good comparison, salary-wise.

The crux of my argument wasn't that Kovalchuk is as good as Crosby, but that he is the ONLY UFA this year that is close to that top level. Therefore, in a competitive bidding process, he can expect to be overpaid for. How quick are we to forget the contracts of Vanek, Gomez, Briere, Finger, etc. All got more rich than their performance warranted, because there was relatively few top quality players turning UFA the same year as they. Supply and Demand, my friend, Supply and Demand.

The realistic part of his contract was about 95 mil. for 10 yrs. 9.5 per year. That is comparable with the other top players. And seeing that he is the only superstar UFA available this year, it is realistic to for him to expect to get OV/Crosby type money. He is as good or has a chance of being just as good as them, given a decent team to play for.

TSN reports that the league just disallowed Kovy's contract. link

Spezza is going to LA?

Actually, the KHL is only losing 2 teams, as united Dinamo remains in, and Avtomobilist can not count as lost, as it never was in. It was hoping to join the KHL next year but failed to acquire adequate financing. Also at least one ("Yugra" from the oil regions of Siberia), possibly 2 new teams are due to come in. Five years ago, NHL also seemed a doomed enterprise, don't you remember? And finally, what was the NHL like in its second year? Wishing it will not make it so.

Bbut, bbut there's gonna be noone left here?

CHI/PHI:4-2

I agree 100%. Vokoun shouldn't have been touched at all. Even the TSN (that is Canadian)announcers thought it should have been a penalty, Definitely not a goal.

So you agree that when your goalie is run like that, you go for the offender's nuts? And what does Perry's skill level have to do with the topic of discussion? If that was Carcillo or Mike Grier or some other scrub, should that have been a penalty?