sibiriak

1. Ovechkin is making just $300,000 more than Crosby in the first five years of the contract. When his current contract expires in 5 years, Crosby will be making several millions more than Ovechkin. The average cap hit will be higher for Crosby. 2. Washington is not spending nowhere near the cap. Even if AO was making 15 mil. a year, he still wouldn't be limiting the cap space as the Caps payroll stands now. 3. If Zetterberg, Datsyuk, or Lidstrom pay any attention whatsoever to what their teammates are making, they have never shown any sign of it. The only people interested in comparing salaries are the players agents, when negotiating a contract ... and you.

Friday: St Louis @ Columbus Minnesota @ Chicago NY Islanders @ Calgary Phoenix @ Vancouver Saturday: Boston @ Philadelphia Dallas @ Los Angeles New Jersey @ Buffalo Detroit @ Ottawa Montreal @ NY Rangers Colorado @ Carolina Pittsburgh @ Atlanta Tampa Bay @ Florida Nashville @ Columbus Toronto @ San Jose Sunday: Philadelphia @ Washington Colorado @ Florida Vancouver @ St Louis Phoenix @ Minnesota NY Islanders @ Ottawa San Jose @ Anaheim Calgary @ Edmonton Chicago @ Nashville

AK Bars Kazan 7 (white) - Traktor Chelyabinsk 5 (dark) The goal that preceded the brawl was actually disallowed because the refs blew the whistle already. That was why AK Bars players took exception to Traktor's player shooting after the whistle. AK Bars was playing two men short at the time with about a minute left in the game. Traktor pulled their goalie so it was 6 on 3, and the fight was initially 6 on 3 as well. Several AK Bars players jumped off the bench to even the numbers. That left to the bench-clearing brawl. 6 players on each side were suspended for between 1 and 6 games afterwards. As was mentioned before, 378 min. of penalties were also called. Coincidentally, Traktor is coached by Andrei Nazarov, the former NHL tough guy.

According to this, TSN Power Rankings Babcock is going to alternate goalies till game 60 and then whoever plays the majority of the last 20 games will start in the playoffs. All will be revealed in due time.

Aussie, I think I only got 11 not 12 this week.

Friday: Philadelphia @ New Jersey Ottawa @ Buffalo Carolina @ Atlanta Chicago @ Anaheim Saturday: Washington @ Montreal Detroit @ Dallas Florida @ Pittsburgh New Jersey @ Boston Philadelphia @ Toronto Tampa Bay @ Ottawa Minnesota @ Nashville Carolina @ St Louis NY Islanders @ Colorado Anaheim @ Phoenix NY Rangers @ Edmonton Calgary @ Los Angeles Columbus @ San Jose Sunday: Buffalo @ Atlanta Detroit @ Chicago

Sounds like a scam. The voting is done on fanballoting@nhl.com IIRC. Send them an e-mail with no personal info and request a proper contact info, i.e.name, mailing adress, phone# etc.

He did have a surgery. Obvoiusly, you'd have to ask his doctors for the "documented proof". Most of the players I listed have been ineffective for several seasons between their injuries and retirement/today. I don't see how Samsonov is any different in that respect. As to "waiving the white flag" - that's silly. He was just put on re-entry waivers and chances are that he will find a new team soon. I wish him luck regardless of what he's going to do in the future.

Actually, his only "bad" full season was the last one. Before that he was scoring at or above his carreer average. The beginning of this season does not look promising either. During the lockout year Samsonov signed with Dinamo Moscow, but was unable toplay due to a back injury. He rehabbed for the remainder of the lockout year and then went on to have his worst NHL season in Montreal. Is it a coincidence that his play went downhill following a serious back injury? I don't think so. According to your logic, every single player who's carreer had been hampered or ended by an injury has a poor work ethic and is unable to play through pain. Does Brian Berard have poor work ethic because he was blinded in one eye? Does Matthew Barnaby? Mike Ricci? Darcy Tucker? John Leclaire? Adam Deadmarsh? Peter Forsberg? Your argument is ridiculous.

Samsonov's strong suit - puckhandling and skating. With a bad back and a bad wrist, he can't do much of either. Thus, he is not effective. When a player who has obvious talent is not performing, the first thing to consider is always whether he has an injury. Players at this level do not suddenly become lazy or unmotivated overnight. When a player has a bad season it is almost always because he has to battle through an injury. So before you go casting aspersions on someone's character, check your facts. If you have no more to go on than a (wrong) assumption, you ought to refrain from casting blame.

Got any proof of Samsonov's "bad charachter"? He had been villified by the Montrea press last year for not playing up to his high contract, but do you know of any facts that show him actually doing something he shouldn't have?

Samsonov has a chronic wrist and back problems along with a host of other past injuries. That is why this former Calder winner is struggling right now. Just like Sergei Fedorov is not the same player anymore because his groin is shot. It has very little to do with any lack of "heart" or "self-motivation". I wouldn't trade for either of them at this point, but I disagree with attributing bad character to them, just because they physically can't play as well as they used to.

Friday: Buffalo @ New Jersey Boston @ Carolina Montreal @ Florida San Jose @ St Louis Saturday: Philadelphia @ Tampa Bay Los Angeles @ Colorado NY Rangers @ Toronto Washington @ Ottawa New Jersey @ NY Islanders Boston @ Atlanta Carolina @ Columbus Buffalo @ Pittsburgh San Jose @ Nashville Edmonton @ Minnesota Detroit @ Phoenix St Louis @ Dallas Anaheim @ Calgary Sunday: Philadelphia @ Florida Los Angeles @ Chicago Montreal @ NY Rangers Anaheim @ Vancouver

Friday: Los Angeles @ Columbus Philadelphia @ Buffalo NY Islanders @ Pittsburgh NY Rangers @ Colorado New Jersey @ Edmonton Dallas @ Calgary Saturday: St Louis @ Boston Chicago @ Ottawa Washington @ NY Islanders Buffalo @ Philadelphia Montreal @ Atlanta Toronto @ Florida Carolina @ Tampa Bay Los Angeles @ Nashville Detroit @ Minnesota Vancouver @ Phoenix Anaheim @ San Jose Sunday: Boston @ Pittsburgh Nashville @ Columbus Atlanta @ St Louis Edmonton @ Chicago Ottawa @ NY Rangers Vancouver @ Colorado New Jersey @ Calgary Montreal @ Dallas

The city of Columbus has supported the Jackets very well through the 6 years of losing, mediocre drafting etc. Finally, the fans (and the ownership who fired GM McLean after the last season) had enough. Now the team has to win the fans back. If they are in the playoff hunt come late February - March , the building will be nearly soldout every night again.

And where exactly would the Wings have got the 5 high first round picks to draft all these players? The whole point of the post that you ridiculed was that without drafting undiscovered European jems in the late rounds, the Wings would have been competing with LA and Phoenix for the last place right now.

Friday: Buffalo @ Washington Calgary @ Carolina Toronto @ Atlanta Minnesota @ Anaheim Saturday: Phoenix @ New Jersey Dallas @ San Jose Columbus @ Boston Chicago @ Buffalo Toronto @ Montreal Atlanta @ Ottawa Pittsburgh @ NY Islanders Carolina @ Philadelphia Florida @ Detroit Washington @ Tampa Bay Nashville @ Colorado Vancouver @ Edmonton Minnesota @ Los Angeles Sunday: Philadelphia @ New Jersey Phoenix @ NY Rangers Calgary @ St Louis Florida @ Chicago San Jose @ Anaheim

NHL New York & NHL Enterprises, LP 1185 Avenue of the Americas, 15th Floor New York, NY 10036 212-789-2000, Fax: 212-789-2020 John Shannon, Senior Vice President, Broadcasting Patti Fallick, Group Vice President, Media Operations & Planning Jody Shapiro, Group Vice President, Center Ice & NHL Network NHL MEDIA - LEGAL Group Vice President, General Counsel, Robert Hawkins Executive Vice President, Marketing, Brian Jennings Vice President, Fan Development, Alysse Soll These are the decision-makers behind the NHL Network/Center Ice. Folks, here are the people who need to see a 5-inch thick stack of faxes from us on their desks on Monday morning. Feel free to be less than complimentary when commenting on their chiseling greedy ways. I intend to mention the possibility of legal action or at least a complaint to my State Attorney General.

Friday: Washington @ New Jersey NY Rangers @ Atlanta NY Islanders @ Florida Minnesota @ Detroit Anaheim @ Chicago Ottawa @ Dallas Philadelphia @ Colorado St Louis @ Edmonton San Jose @ Phoenix Saturday: Boston @ Toronto Carolina @ Montreal Atlanta @ Washington Minnesota @ Columbus NY Islanders @ Tampa Bay Anaheim @ Nashville Pittsburgh @ Vancouver Phoenix @ Los Angeles Buffalo @ San Jose Sunday: New Jersey @ NY Rangers Carolina @ Detroit Calgary @ Chicago St Louis @ Colorado

Friday: too late for the rest of the Fri games. Colorado @ San Jose Saturday: NY Rangers @ Ottawa Carolina @ Buffalo Pittsburgh @ Toronto Nashville @ Montreal Atlanta @ NY Islanders Dallas @ Philadelphia Washington @ Florida Phoenix @ Detroit Boston @ Tampa Bay Chicago @ St Louis Columbus @ Calgary Colorado @ Los Angeles Sunday: Atlanta @ New Jersey Vancouver @ Minnesota Edmonton @ Anaheim

Compared to the Caps current D, Gonchar was, like, Lidstrom

No, I do mean that Phaneuf hit was late. Usually, you get about half-second to hit a guy after he gives up the puck. Hudler passed the puck off almost a second before he got hit. Ergo, late hit.

Draper is so tough he probably rode a bycicle to the ER.

Great game. Datsyuk is tha man. Phooneuf's hit was way late. Lilja gets A+ for guts, C- for fighting skillz. He could use some boxing practice in the off-season. Wings win by dominating one (2nd) period over a very motivated and physical Calgary team. Osgood played well. Now lets do something like this to Chicago, Nashville, and the rest of the Central division.

You gotta do better then this >> "Well, if you want to define players' nationality by the country they were born in, then there are NO Russians...." Your exact words. You contradict yourself. So which is it? Are there no Russians, or is every player in the NHL born in the USSR a Russian? If the latter is the case, I'd be willing to bet that there is more than 30 NHLers who would be Russian.<< Actually, I'm contradicting your idea that the place of birth makes one a certain nationality. My point all along was that birthplace usually determines citizenship, but NOT nationality/ethnicity. >>Have you actually seen these passports you speak of? Didn't think so.<< The passports of national team members ARE checked at all IIHF tourneys. If you remember in 1998 Ulf Samuelsson was kicked off the Swedish Olympic team in the middle of the tournament after it was discovered that he had an American passport, and neither US, nor Sweden allow dual citizenship. Nabokov has received Russian passport many years ago as a replacement for an old Soviet one. He never held a Kazakh passport. That case was widely publisized in Russia. Zherdev was 13 when he moved to Moscow from his hometown of Kiev. He received Russian passport when he came of age. I know this first hand. I'm not familiar with Vishnevski situation, but since he was able to play for Russia recently, he must be Russian citizen at least. His nationality I don't know for sure. But he played his junior hockey and began his pro carreer in Russia. Zhitnik played for Russia before, so he must be a Russian citizen. He is an ethnic Ukranian. But his hockey nationality (defined what countryhe is eligible to play for in the Olympics and World Championships) is Russian, as it is for the other three players you singled out. >> The territory these guys were born in has never been Russia. Why is that so difficult for you to swallow?<< That would be because it is an incorrect statement. You must be more careful making historical claims you seem to know little about. Nabokov was born in Ust-Kamenogorsk. This territory was actuaslly part of the Russian empire and later of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic as one of the republics of the USSR. When the territory of Soviet Turkestan was broken up into what now are Kazakhstan, Kirghizstan, Uzbekistan, Tadjikistan, and Turkmenistan in the late 1920s, the borders between Russia and new Kazakhstan were redrawn. Ust-Kamenogorsk became a part of Kazakhstan as one of the results. It didn't matter then because the borders were administrative only. Now, that all the former republics are souvereign states, those arbitrary borders become real international dividing lines. And the 90% Russian town of Ust-Kamenogorsk has found itself a part of independent Kazakhstan. Did that suddenly make all its Russian inhabitants Kazakhs? Ukraine in its current borders is the product of a similar Soviet arbitrary redrawinhg of the borders. The territory (however loosely defined) of the XVII century Ukraine that joined the Russian empire was very different from the territory of the current independent Ukraine. Very significant territories were added to it in the course of Russian history in XVIII-XX centuries. The last major territorial transfer from Russia to Ukraine took place as recently as 1954. As a result of such arbitrary drawing of borders among other things, the ethnic composition of all post-Soviet states is very varied. In particular there are large Russian and Russian-speaking minority communities in all of them. Example: Vitaly Vishnevsky was born in Kharkov, Ukraine. Kharkov is a majority Russian-speaking city. Vishnevsky started his hockey career in Yaroslavl, Russia. He holds Russian citizenship and plays for the Russian national team. My uncle Vassily was born in Siberia (on the Russian side of the border not too far from Ust-Kamenogorsk in a matter of fact.) He doesn't speak Ukranian. He met his wife in the Far East. They moved to Kharkov in 1970s, and now he and his whole family hold the Ukranian citizenship. So, do you still think that it is such an easy matter to tell who is Russian, who is Ukranian, and who is Kazakh? IMO, the only definition appropriate on this forum is the hockey nationality, i.e.which national team the player is eligible to play for. And by that definition all four of the players you picked are Russian. >>Since when does language one speak determines nationality? What then is Lidstrom? He speaks both Swedish and English? Hell, maybe you can help me. I speak German, broken Spanish, English, and a bit of pig Latin, what nationality am I?<< I said that his first language was Russian. His mother tongue. That is a major part in determining one's nationality. Doesn't matter how many languages you speak, you only have one mother tongue. In your view, what does determine one's nationality? Because I think we may have very different definitions of that word.