sibiriak

Detroit 4-2 over Calgary Anaheim 4-2 over Minnesota Dallas 4-2 over Vancouver San Jose 4-2 over Nashville Buffalo 4-1 over NYI New Jersey 4-2 over Tampa Bay Atlanta 4-2 over NYR Ottawa 4-2 over Pittsburgh

Oh, no! Those Russian bastards paida lot of money to a man,who no NHL team would give a chance to be a head coach. How dare they! First, they send all their best players over here, then have the temerity to hire Canadian or American coaches! Those commie bastards!

I meant the RFA contract that Fedorov signed with Detroit. Not his latest one, which is a 4 year contract, and I was only thinking of 5yr+ contracts. Given what he has had to play with and his nagging injuries, I can't really say that Fedorov tanked in ANA or CLS.

Actually, the Flames are 1 game UNDER .500 in their second of the back-to-back games. ALL teams struggle whenthey are tired and the opposition is fresh. In theplayoffs,that doesn';t matter, since there are no "fresher" teams.

Yashin was a disappointment. Fedorov was not. He played fine (and won a Cup) for the whole length of his 5 year contract. That's 50% success rate out of your two handpicked examples. Not 10% like you think. Sakic's long contract seemed to work out well. In fact,beside Yashin, I have trouble thinking of anyone who signed a 5+ year contract and then tanked. Be honest now. Even if the Wings signed Datsyuk for 1 year and $5M, you'd still be unhappy.Your one and only problem with Datsyuk's contract is your lack of faith in Datsyuk's playoff capabilities. If he happens to play well in the next 2 months, you'll have no desire to question his contract anymore.

Do you have evidence to support that? If you can list at least 20 5+ year contracts, and show that 18 of them were flops, I'd be interested to see that. Thereare two possible pitfalls to a long term contract. 1) Injury, which is covered by insurance, and cap exemption for LTI. 2) Drop-off in performance. That is a double-edge sword. If the player steps up his game, the contract is a steal, if he falls off, it is a bust. But you can't get the steal, without risking a bust. In your opinion, the risk is not worth the possible gain, in the more informed opinions of Mssrs Babcock, Holland, Yzerman, and Illitch, the potential gain far outweighs the risk. If we are talking about 18-23 year old player, I might agree (And yet, a standard rookie contract is for 3 years. I guess the GMs don't share your concern. They are willing to sign totally unproven kids for 3 years, and probably longer, if they could.) But in the case of a 28-year old, most of the further development will take place within 3 years, no more. So it is much easier to judge. If they turned out bad, you are correct. See above. But I don't think either Datsyuk or Holland consider a trade to be high on the list of future concerns. The obvious intent of this contract is to KEEP Datsyuk as one of the Wings cornerstones for the foreseeable future. In the cap world, acquiring UFAs is difficult, so a team must try to lock up its stars long term, and if possible, at a level of salary that becomes more and more cap friendly as the years go by.

I agree, I don't like putting Draper, Maltby, or Cleary with Filpula/Hudler/Samualsson. Franzen seems more useful on a non-checking line than the other three.

Again, Detroit's brass would be extatic, if Zetterberg's agent uses the $6.7M 7 year contract as a benchmark. In two years, Zetterberg will be seeking MUCH higher salary, then the $6.7M, because the cap will rise significantly, and the top players will then be making $10M per year, not $7-$8M. And in the case of a proven bona-fide star like Zetterberg, the longer the contract, the happier the management. So, what is wrong with using Datsyuk's contract for benchmark again?

I take it back. After looking at this season stats, Lidstromis having an above average scoring year and one of his best +/- years. I am wrong about him. I was going on a knee jerk reaction to some few -3, -4 games that he had at the end of the season.

Was rather mediocre this season, by his standards anyway.

Then, at least the dollar amount of Datsyuk's contract won't be any kind of benchmark, and Zetterberg is younger than Datsyuk, so signing him for the long term makes even more sense. In what way, then, would Datsyuk's contract adversely affect signing Zetterberg?

EDM-CAL 2-2 after 2

Congrats and thanks to Aussie_Wing who clinched the first place tonight.

a) To quote Mike Illitch at the press conference, "Steve Yzerman said that we must sign Pavel, and it was good enough for me." b) Yes, the management loved him for agreeing for 2.65 a year, but what does that have to do with how good a player he is? And his contract expires in 2009, so Datsyuk's contract is not going to be even close to the 9-10 mil. that Zetterberg is going to sign for in two years. c) If Hasek is the MVP, then Datsyuk is the first runner-up. Like I said, it's between Pavel and Dom.

If you are wrong about Bertuzzi, it doesn't automatically mean that you are always wrong.

Crap. Looks like the NHL CI on-line did some kind of change to their site, and I can't watch the game. I'm pissed beyond measure. :flamingmad: :punch:

HELP!!! Do people with CenterIce get this game? Because my CI Online doesn't show that there are ANY games in progress. HEEEEELP!!!!!!!!!!!

a) The average NHL salary has been growing before the lockout, and faster then it is growing now. If anything, my 7% a year estimate is toolow historically. b) Read part b of my previous comment again. Holland and Illitch said that Steve Yzerman was the prime moving force behind the decision to re-sign Pavel. Yes, it is customary to praise the newly signed player, but it is not what I was talking about. Steve Yzerman, that I never known to lie publicly before, said that he watched Datsyuk from the beginning of his career, and he 100% belives in him. c) If Zetterberg didn't get hurt, he or Hasek would have been my team MVP choices. But he did get hurt, and Pavel was carrying the team on his shoulders for the large part of the season. That makes him a legitimate MVP candidate. You may say that if Bertuzzi was on the Wings from the beginning of the season, and was healthy,he might have been an MVP. Maybe. But in fact, with the injuries that did happen, Pavel WAS the guy who carried the team the most. (Again, along with Hasek) d) I didn't say that your co-thinkers were Datsyuk-haters. That is your self-identification, apparently. I only meant the folks who think that this contract is too expensive and too long.

In 2009, if Zetterberg accepts a 6.7mil.a year contract, Holland will jumpfor joy. With the cap at $55 mil. then, Zetterberg and franchize players like him will be going for $ 9-10 mil. per year.

Hello #1 seed and the Calgary Candles.

a) I'm basing my assumptions about how fast the salaries will rise on on how fast the salaries have risen in the past, and what the projections are for the next two years. Salary cap started at $38M last season, and is projected to be $50M in two years. That's $12M increase in 3 years or 12/38=35.3% /3 = approximately 10% per year. b) During today's press-conference, Mike Illitch, Ken Holland, and Steve Yzerman all said that Yzerman had a large role in making this decision based on his familiarity with Datsyuk as a player and as a person. Later Holland said that again in his interview to 1270 radio talk show, and Mike Babcock called Datsyuk a leader and paraised him tremendously talking to the same show. c) Datsyuk has better stats than Zetterberg, and he played more games, and he carried the team for more games this season. Zetterberg was injured, so it is not a knock on him, but the fact remains that Datsyuk was more instrumental in reaching the playoffs and contending for the first overall. d) When Datsyuk has decent playoffs this year, you and your co-thinkers will have absolutely no grounds left to claim that Datsyuk is overpaid, overrated etc.

a) If Yzerman diagreed with this deal, I would expect him to keep low profile, rather than outright lie. Instead, he seemed to have been the moving force behind this deal. b) Zetterberg was an RFA with limited bargaining power when he signed his 4 year management friendly deal. Whether he is the better player or not will not matter for another two years until his current deal is up. c) Arguably, Datsyuk is the team MVP so far this season. It is between him and Hasek in any case.

I think you are not getting it. NHL salaries rise 7-10% per year. $6.7 mil. per year will be a bargain in a couple of years. Player's of comparable talent will be getting $7-$8 mil. in two years. Datsyuk will be cheap.

Datsyuk would have commanded upward of $6 mil. THIS year if Detroit allowed him to become a UFA. Next year players of Datsyk's caliber will get $6.5 -$7 mil. What albatross? Capitals or someone will cheerfully take on Datsyuk's $6.7 mil. per year next season, and in two years it will be a bargain.

He is not as ready to drop the gloves, but he is infinitely better positionally. And a better puck mover. Which his +1 vs Souray's -25 attests.