drwscc

deadmau5 at the Joe? wow.

Franzen must have been reading the boards today. In the Avery thread, someone commented that he has never gotten involved in any scrum when a teammate is getting jobbed. He was right in there that time though.

His daughter will be watching the next couple of family meals from the pressbox after that.

Good. I was wondering. I got all amped up to see Wings/Wild, and come out to see Miller/Ovechkin.

Coloradowned?

Broons are looking pretty borderline dirty. Lots of late hits, and hitting guys that are already down.

Less ideal than having your goalie of the future get injured, and starting a guy with 0 NHL experience because you have no choice? I think Emery completely out of shape might have been a better option. And again, NOONE is upset that Nabby didn't make it to the Wings. It was almost certain that he'd not make it through waivers. The problem is that a team with 0 playoff hopes picked up a 35 year old who was looking to help someone for the playoffs, and then sits around going "I don't understand why he doesn't want to play here."

Fixed that for you.

Stortini was also waived. The Isles need him too.

Noone is disputing that, in a vacuum, and with a different asset, Snow made a smart move for his club. He needed goaltending, and there was a pretty good goalie on waivers. The problem comes in when you factor in the contract he signed, which is definitely a "half year for a playoff team" contract, and not an "I don't care where I go, I just want to play" contract. If ANY playoff bound team had picked Nabby up, he'd either be playing now, or be sitting on the bench, because a Wings rival would have grabbed him, just so the Wings couldn't. The fact that a team with no hope of making the playoffs, and a history of mismanagement, picked him up is where the problem lies.

No, Snow has the equivalent of a Topps Hockey card with Nabokov's name on it,and it's worth about as much. Looks like Nabby will be heading back to Europe if they toll his contract, so what exactly did Snow get besides more of a bad reputation?

Ditto.

You win 1 internets! Classic.

Noone is saying he didn't know this was a possibility, but I'm sure he and his agent looked things over, and determined that it was unlikely a cellar dweller would pick him up, as rent-a-players are usually signed for the playoffs. It didn't make sense for New Jersey or the Isle to pick him up because they don't really have a chance to make the playoffs. I really think Nabby would have been fine if he had been picked up by a contender of any stripe. The real problem is that the pickup doesn't make any sense on a professional level, for Nabby. It's Snow jacking with someone else's career. To use your Caesars analogy, this would be akin to your contract being picked up by the worst franchise in the company, where there are no customers, and noone that wants to work there, that would give you 2 months of work, and then shut down. Unless you were destitute, and had no other prospects (which does not describe Nabakov) I don't think there are many folks that would show up.

Doc Emerick is the reason Ward keeps getting lit up. They'll be chatting, then all of a sudden, here comes Duchene in on a breakaway. On the other hand, it's cool to hear from a player actually on the ice about how things are out there. Interesting perspective.

I have an issue with Vs HD. Very choppy. Regular Vs looks fine. Man, does Team Lids look awful out there, aside from the flash of brilliance from Dracula Kopitar.

Actually, Nabby not reporting is like getting offered a job with a law firm, accepting the offer, and then being told to report to McDonalds Monday morning to work on the fry station, because that's your new job. I don't know anyone who would take that deal, yet you're acting like it's illogical for him *not* to show up and work the fry station.

So, we're back to Ozzie is still good then? Ozzie and Howard were almost identical before they went down. If Howard is bad because of the D, then so is Ozzie.

I can't wait till the offer sheets come rolling in for all of Snow's RFAs. Good times. Hey, it's all above the board, and being done the right way. Bye Tavares and Okposo.

It is, however, smart to take into account that screwing over free agents tends to make other free agents not want to play for a poorly run organization. Short term benefit, *maybe* he can turn Nabby into a draft pick or something next season *if* the league allows them to toll the contract. Long term, players tell their agents that the Isles are off the table when they become FAs. But hey, he doesn't need to have players going forward. As long as he can screw over one goalie now, right?

I think if he's trying to take some action against the coach/organization and get some changes made, that's honorable, and it's good he's taking a stand. However, if he's just trying to get money from the organization/team then I don't get it. Not sure how he was monetarily hurt by some words.

If Snow had picked up the phone and called Nabby/Meehan directly, and said "Hey, I am thinking about picking you up. Are you willing to show up?" and been told no, he could have avoided the whole situation. Nobody wants a player who has 0 desire to play for your team, especially not a goalie. Snow is in a lose-lose here, and so is Nabby. He had the right to pick Nabby off the waivers, but Nabby has the right not to show up. Or, he could show up, and cause problems. Or play one period, and fake an injury, and be done for the year. Or never play again. It's all a big crapshoot. And for those saying that if Holland did the same thing, we'd all be cheering, I don't think the situations are even remotely similar. The Islanders have spent the past few years showing the world that they are poorly run, that they have no interest in beoming a place where players want to play. The Wings, on the other hand, are a well run organization, that show remarkable loyalty to players that sign there. If the situation was reversed, and the Islanders were the team that Nabby tried to sign with, Holland would have made a quick phone call, discovered the player had no intention of suiting up for the team, and either passed, or picked him up to prevent someone else from getting him. Noone wins if you try to force an unwilling person to work for you. Had Snow played it that way (i.e. he doesn't want to play for us, but we're picking this guy up so team X doesn't get him) I think most folks would understand. But to ****** someone up who was coming back, and wanted a chance to go to the playoffs, and then just act like "who cares what he wants. he's livestock," is just the wrong way to handle this.

And how exactly is forcing someone who wants nothing to do with your team to play or sit out possibly 2 years going to improve the Isles' chances of luring free agents?

I think it is unlikely that the NHL would grant the "tolling" of Nabby's contract. The only 2 other times this has happened, it was when players held out in the middle of long contracts (Yashin and Radulov) and were trying to get out of them. This is an entirely different case, as Nabby obviously signed a deal far lower than his value for only half a year. There is no way the NHLPA allows a player to be forced into playing a full year on that type of contract. So, no, Snow was not smart for picking Nabby up, as he will likely end up with nothing, or at worst, a locker room cancer who doesn't want to be there.

Congrats wings87 for Godwinning the thread. I am shocked it took so long for that to happen.