Doggy

Before anyone jumps off of a bridge, this has nothing to do with any team. It is a general set of thoughts. What would I do in terms of team make up and roster control/spending if I was running a NHL team. Keeping some things in mind: 23 man roster and a 70 million $ cap, here we go.

1. Player experience/roster management. Ok we have a 23 man roster. It is impossible to have all 23 players between 27 and 32, which is the prime of most players careers. Not to mention the cost of having a team like that. My ideal roster would have 2 rookies, 2 second year, 2 third year, 2 fourth year, 2 5th, 2 6th, 2 7th, 2 8th, 2 9th, 2 10th, 2 11th, and 1 guy with 12 or more. By doing this you are keeping young and cheap plays coming in and managing the costs. If the average rookie is 22 when he makes the roster, this still keeps the majority of the players between 26 and 32. The prime playing years. Some of course come earlier and some later.

2. managing the cap. If you divide 70 million by 23, you spend 3 million per player. if you actual payroll looked like that you would have a pretty poor team. Also most rookies and young players don't make nor do they need to make 3 million per year. So where and how much do i spend? The backup goalie, 7th Dman, and the 13th and 14th forwards are all at 1 million or less. That is 4 guys of the 23. leaving 66 million to spend on 19 players. The starting goalie is in a 5 million per slot. The 1-6 Dman make the oppisite amount. IE the 1 makes 6, the 2 makes 5, the 3 makes 4, the 4 makes 3, the 5 makes 2 and the 6 makes 1. At this point I have allocated 30 million of the 70 and covered 11 players. Leaving 40 million for the remaining 12 forwards. The 4th line guys make 2 million each. This leaves 9 players and 34 million left to spend. The 6 remaining RW and LW each get paid 3 million. This leaves 3 players and 16 million to spend. The 1 and 2 C get 6 million each, and the 3rd C makes 4 million. That allocates all 70 million allowed for the cap.

3. Now i have never been inside of RW HQ. But I am sure they have a plan along these lines somewhere. Every company does. You have to know where the money is going etc..... Now some may want to spend more accross the board on the top line. So be it, everyone has their own opinions. But in the end, you still have to have 23 players and can only spend 70.

later I will take these thoughts and tie these with the wings and their roster. I am sure that will be fun! LOL!

It's time to go with the youth and get bigger and stronger. Bert,Homer and Lidstrom all need to retire. Hudler needs to go play in midget league.
Howard needs another goalie to push him for the starting job.

Well I don't know about you guys but I don't understand why people keep talking about cutting down injuries & cheapshots when we all know they will never stop b/c we all know players want the other teams players to get injured b/c those teams will be easier to beat. Also fans want the teams other players to miss time due to injury b/c they get a better chance of watching their team win. Case in point I have no problem if the Preds suffer a rash of injuries or Pens, Canucks, Sharks for that matter. In the world of sports its all about looking out for #1 and just getting your team to win or the team that you have cash on if you are a bettor.

I think the league has to accept that professional sports is all about winning and the only way to put away the injury/cheapshot issues to bed is to legalize it and let the players all knock each other out until we have no healthy bodies left and then they will learn their lessons only then.

Also you have to look at the coaching and I bet if you ask any NHL coach if they would like Cindy Crybaby injured or healthy and all 29 coaches will say they rather him injured b/c he can't hurt me from the press box. It's that plain & simple b/c winning is everything in pro sports and if you have a chance to injure someone with a clean hit you do so and if you want to take a cheapshot to injure someone you do it at your own risk as there will be some retribution from the other teams players.

I know we've won two games but man were they good ones.  This is a thread of Pre-Playoff relief now that we have most of our guys back and we are playing like the team we know and  love. Repaired, dialed in and finally tearing it up..  our Boys are back in town!!

GO WINGS!!

If he's not, who is? I've got pav goggles as much as anyone but realistically.. uh

When he's healthy, no one is even close to Crosby. Not Malkin, not Giroux, not Dats, not Toews, not the Sedins, nobody.

Also, it's 5 points in 2 games since coming back.

I hate to say it.

Crosby is the best player in the NHL.

Taking away that the Pens had won 9 games in a row before he came back, the last 2 games he has looked very sharp and made the Pens much better. 4 points in 2 games back after missing all that time is a feat in itself. I honestly can't say that any current Wing could have that kind of output after missing that amount of time, even Datsyuk (the goal last night was heartening, but he can't do it by himself).

I kinda envy the Pens fans right now. They are in a position that seriously makes them SC contenders when their season was in jeopardy a few months ago. And we are down because we might not get home ice advantage in the play-offs that we expect to be in year after year.

Oh good someone else bitching other peoples good time.

Yeah, no.  Say puck drop is 7:30 p.m.  That means from 4:30 to 7:30 you can sit in the parking lot and drink until you can't tell colors from shapes anymore.  How are you going to get any enjoyment out of the hockey game if you're so drunk your blood qualifies as a cocktail?  As someone else alluded to, how are you supposed to get home?  You're not going to be dead sober by the time the game ends, so you can't drive anywhere.  

I don't drink, and have family reasons for why that is, but I don't have anything against someone who has a beer or two at the game, or at a concert, or at a restaurant....whatever.  It's people who drink until they're falling down drunk that I don't like, because they're invariably seated near me, and not only do I have to hear them, I have to smell them, and that takes away from my ability to enjoy myself, and that's not taking into account everyone else around him/her either.  

If you think drinking until you can't stand up qualifies as a good time, that's kind of sad.

Oh good.  Just what sporting events need - more drunks.  Letting people drink themselves into alcoholic stupors is totally responsible, and not at all going to affect the quality of the game for those unfortunate enough to be seated near these people.

Oh good someone else bitching other peoples good time.

Oh good.  Just what sporting events need - more drunks.  Letting people drink themselves into alcoholic stupors is totally responsible, and not at all going to affect the quality of the game for those unfortunate enough to be seated near these people.

Since the tent is outside I would assume that most of the folks coming for the beer special aren't necessarily attending the game.  Either way, at least it will bring people to a hockey game in Florida.

Oh good.  Just what sporting events need - more drunks.  Letting people drink themselves into alcoholic stupors is totally responsible, and not at all going to affect the quality of the game for those unfortunate enough to be seated near these people.

What a piece of s***. Definitely a bad contract. The worst? That has to go to DiPietro.

I believe this is the issue.  Knee and back problems add up over the years, stiffen up, lose their explosiveness, handcuffing shots.  

Warren Miller, the great extreme skiing movie maker summed it up best with regards to age and the athletic body:  "If you are a better skiier at 41 than you were at 21, then you weren't much of a skier at 21".

I still give Z mad props for pushing that beat up body of his.

That's just retarded.  He's under no more wear and tear than any other hockey player out there.

I blame Emma.

But really, sometimes players have bad seasons. It is not a sign of irrevocable decline.

No s***.  I think he took the offseason completely off.  His skating sucks, his shooting sucks, he's weak on the puck - I could go on - but every Z fan can see his game is way off.

This is no way about linemates.  This is about playing mostly s***ty hockey.

The mascot shot that guy directly in the eye. His reaction was perfectly understandable. If I were in his shoes, my vision may just have gotten blurry in that eye, but not so blurry that I can't read the word "attorney" in the Yellow Pages.