Lou_Siffer

Every year im so optimistic...why should this year be any different! 10-6 baby! lol. Theres things i really like about this team, like the RB's and WR's obviously....but then i look at the cornerback situation and think wtf are they doing there? I mean, if the O line can just step up to being a middle of the pack group...the offense will be outstanding. Im very excited about Calvin and Tatum Bell. But im really worried about the corners. The success of this team will be riding on whether guys like Wilson and Smith are able to step up. Travis Fisher at best, is a #2...so im very nervous about the pass defense. Gerald Alexander will also have to be a key contributor. Oh, I also never commented on the Redding re-signing. Initially, I thought this was a total farce that Redding had become the highest paid DT in the league. But you know, I sat here trying to think up a bunch of DT's that i knew were better...and ended up getting stumped! So all in all, i give it the benefit of the doubt because of Marinelli. This is his area, so if he thinks Redding has got it..i'll go with it.

Lets see....overpay and spend 3.5-4 mill for Danny Markov or 6 mill for Ryan Smyth....what a difficult decision!! Thats pretty crazy to say. With Sakic soon to be on the way out they need a guy like Smyth...he's perfect to take the reigns over. Im afraid your vastly overrating Markov in this case.

I see where you're coming from, but I dont really think the word "ridiculous" fits though because it COULD very well pay off. To me its not hard to imagine Bertuzzi getting back to 35 goals. We dont really know what he'll bring, thats why i deem it be risky rather than just an all out ridiculous move...as the potential for it to pay off is there. Its not like these other signings where an average player is getting twice his worth. Oh, for the record, I think the whole "classless" thing by Burke is silly. Lowe didnt do anything wrong. But I dont have a problem with him speaking his mind, as im sure theres some other GMs that probably agree with him.

Its hard to say because we dont really know what Penner's side was asking for. Penner is very Bertuzzi-like, so you know he's Burke's kind of player, it had to be something pretty high for him not to be already re-signed. If Penner wanted 3.5 I could see why Burke would try hard to bring that down knowing that Perry and especially Getzlaf will be keying on that number for comparison purposes when theyre up to be re-signed. If Burke was this overspending crazy man like people are making him out to be, he wouldve just given Penner what he wanted and given no mind to Getzlaf and Perry! 4 million for 1 year for Bertuzzi is a tad high but i dont think its unreasonable at all, that second year i admit though is extremely risky.

Ok, lets look at what wouldve happened had Anaheim not spent money on Schneider and Bertuzzi, and just sat around and waited for Selanne and Niedermayer's decisions rather than go for replacements like Burke did. Thats 9.5 million they have back, in addition to the appr 2mill they currently have...giving them a total of about 11.5 mill in cap space. So while every good free agent gets scooped up, they continue to wait...and wait...and wait. News then comes out that Selanne and Neidermayer are indeed retiring...one big ol' problem though, you now have a ton of money but all the good free agents are GONE now! So pray tell...what the hell would they be expected to do then? I think its safe to say that Penner was asking for somewhere in the 3 - 3.5 range from Anaheim, or else he wouldve been re-signed a long time ago. So lets, knock that cap room down to about 8 lets say. So how do they go about replacing two key losses in Selanne and Neidermayer now? If they were to give 4 million + to Markov, you'd all be laughing and criticizing the hell out of it and you know it. Sign Jeff O'neill? Please. I think you guys look at Holland and his usual "wait and see" game, and think every GM is supposed to be like that. Burke chose to go after what he felt were the best potential replacements immediately, rather than risk settling with much less quality acquisitions if those 2 retired. Also you had better believe with the way Burke jumped on Schnieder, that Neidermayer probably gave him the impression that it was 90% he's retiring. Now with him having possible second thoughts, its a cluttered situation. They could have one of the best defenses in recent memory...but it may cost them Penner. I dont like Schneider, but i agree with the notion that Burke spent that money to replace Neidermayer. If you think he overpaid for Bertuzzi, i agree, but keep things realistic...its really not by more than 500k. I think the second year is the questionable part about the deal. Wait a sec...i didnt even do my math right! If Neidermayer retired under my hypothetical scenario, they'd have an additional 6 mill! Now we're talking about 14 mill to use on the current free agent pool. Dont spend it all in one place!!

After checking a little further, I believe Gagne has one of those limited no trade clauses. I just seen a rumor talking about the Yankees being interested and that Gagne wouldnt be able to stop that trade. I do know for sure that he's able to block a trade here though..

Thats pretty sad when a guy who's had only 2 fights tops in a season is the most willing guy in the whole system! But it is true...

Yep thats definitely a main factor....he also could want to go somewhere that would give him an extension as well. I dont really like the idea of replacing Jones with Gagne though. Jones is completely useless unless he's closing a game out, i mean, how many times have we seen him go in a non save situation and get totally hit up? So in effect, while your adding Gagne as your closer you're almost subtracting Jones in a sense. Im content with him as closer, he may be a little rocky at times but he at least throws strikes.

And how do we know what Penner was asking for from Anaheim? While I happen to think he's worth 4 mill, it mentions in the article the two sides havent been close. If Penner's out for the money, its kinda hard to get a deal done right away isnt it? Theres nothing wrong with the Bertuzzi signing, its the Schneider one that is effecting Penner. If Neidermayer never talks retirement, Matt is NOT signed. Bertuzzi, essentially, is replacing Selanne.

You gotta admit though, looking at the guy's stick physique he must be suffering from Bolemia.

What really put Burke into this position is Scott Neidermayer's indecisiveness. You guys are acting as if Burke decided to go on a reckless spending spree. The Schneider and Bertuzzi signings were made to attempt to fill the void for Selanne and Neidermayer possibly retiring. If those guys retire and had Burke not signed them, then he'd be left with a bunch of cap room but with the current s***ty free agent pool to use it on....or should i say, waste it on.

Gagne also holds the cards there, as the Tigers weren't on the list of teams he'd allow himself to be traded too a month or two ago.

It also doesnt help when your Bol-legged

Nice pic of Burke....I miss the old avatar already!

Latest has the Tigers interested in possibly bringing Farnsworth back...IF we cant get Lidge im all for it! I mentioned way back in this thread that i wish we would trade Maroth for Farnsey, so if we get him i'll take half credit He hasnt pitched up to expectations with the Yanks, but that happens with alot of guys. I think we could bring him back to what he was with us a few years ago. I'd definitely take this option over guys like Dotel, Cordero, and Otsuka. Yanks apparently are also willing to pay some of his salary, so i dont think this would cost us much as theyre pretty eager to get rid of him it sounds like. I guess it would be pretty humorous if we traded Zach Miner for him!

Yeah, its kinda hard to imagine somebody who holds dogfights at their house to be only "slightly involved".

Gelech's going to have to be alot more active in the fight department before i take any Moen comparison seriously. I mean, Moen fought quite a bit in the AHL, Gellech hasnt gone more than 2 times in a season. He did have a couple known names on his card though like Krys Barch...so we'll see if he can become more active. Given that these comments came from Nill and not Holland, I'll give it a small amount of credence. No, this isnt another Holland bash, I just dont pay any mind whatsoever to his opinion when he talks about toughness or physical players.

Well, they'll make up roughly 600-700K of that when they deal Bryzgalov inevitably and replace him with a minimum backup. One thing I thought of, and i dont know how Scott would feel about this, but it would make alot of sense to throw Rob in as a tag along to any Bryzgalov deal...I believe he makes 2 mill? That plus the 600k, in addition to the their current cap room, puts them right around the limit while matching the Penner offer sheet. And thats of course if Scott Niedermayer returns, which he probably wont anyway. I guess my scenario would put Scott in the position of coming back but without his brother, or retiring. Maybe since he fullfilled the Cup dream with him, he'd be ok if Rob had to be dealt. I cant really think of anybody else who makes decent money that they could trade...he seems to be the clear candidate. By the way, with my trade thing they would be getting just picks in return, not players.

Sounds like this group had one too many hurricanes!

That might not have been the greatest example, but I think its similar in the fact that Holland continued to wait for what seemed like forever for Shanny to make up his mind while all potential replacements flew off the board. Whereas Burke seems to be of the opposite approach and goes right for the replacement...like he also did with Schneider. Just trying to illustrate the different philosophy as it was questioned why Anaheim hasnt saved alot of money for Selanne.

Thanks SWF. Yeah, with Kp's argument, I can understand him not liking the personalities on there and all that. I can consider that a legitimate gripe. My problem's with the people who come out and say "ESPN sucks I hate them they show pool and poker WTF!!!!!!!" Attacking programming that has no bearing whatsoever on whether or not they show the NHL. Its nothing but hatred because they got rid of hockey and thats it! Thats fine and dandy, but seeing a thread all the time about ESPN sucking is annoying. Especially considering its all the NHL's fault..

Well, you cant really expect a team to sit around and wait while a guy decides if he wants to keep playing or not. They had to act as if he were retiring, so they went and signed Bertuzzi to replace him. Whether or not they overpaid for Todd is a seperate issue, but the point is they cant just sit on their hands for Teemu while all the free agent replacement forwards get scooped up. Now if he wants to return, he has to take less money. Just the way it goes. Holland may have waited and waited, as he did while Shanny decided if he wanted to return here last offseason, but Burke doesnt apparently.

I defend it because I feel its needlessly attacked by everybody (aside from you) because they dumped hockey...but i honestly have zero problem with the network and still like it. With their programming it depends on taste. I happen to watch stuff like Worlds Strongest Man, bowling, arm wrestling.... poker i used to watch avidly before i kinda burned it out. I find the off the wall shows to be interesting...ive even put on the dominoes before. I also really like Around the Horn. So the programming works just fine for me. I actually dont even watch Sportscenter, so i cant comment on what goes on there. I get all my highlights and news from ESPNews, and i'd be lucky to be able to name 2 anchors on there since i harldy even pay attention to them. Majority of the time im just staring at the ticker...or waiting for a certain guest to be on. If Michelle Bonner (the one name i can think of) butchers a name or something i really could care less...doesnt effect the highlight.

If hockey was on ESPN, you couldnt possibly expect them to show more than 1 game a week. ESPN doesnt even show NASCAR unless im mistaken. NBA still kills hockey in ratings even if its dropped, but im more talking about college basketball anyway.

Instead of having all this aggression toward ESPN, how about just pointing at Bettman and the NHL for sinking the sport to such pitiful ratings that ESPN has no use for it? Do you actually expect ESPN to give money to the NHL to show their games? Thats absurd if you do. As far as i know, and i believe it was mentioned in this thread, they offered them a deal where they didnt have to pay anything (which is what it SHOULD be) and Bettman declined. So why the complaining? So what if they make potshots at hockey, shows like Around the Horn also make cracks about soccer and even NASCAR occasionally. Last time i checked, dominoes and eating contests arent even on during the hockey timeslots. Am i missing something...is hockey always played in the afternoon now? As for poker, they show the World Series at night during the summer when hockey's in the offseason. Cant blame them there either, given the popularity of it. Instead of picking on these little events that had no reason for the elimination of hockey, lets look at something that did...college basketball. That is whats on all the time during the hockey hours. If you're gonna sit here and tell me that ESPN should eliminate showing a bunch of college basketball games that probably gets 5x the ratings the NHL would...I dont know what to say.