NHL 2011 Off Season Thread

[Splaya]

Congrats to Boston. Tim Thomas deserved it...

What's your team needing heading into the offseason.

Wings will have about 15 million to spend

[RaginRonic]

Any hopes of Candian repatriation of the Stanley Cup dies last night. No Canadian NHL franchise will EVER AGAIN hoist Stanley over their heads. We can't do it up here due to inferior quality talent. All the players with passion and heart play in the U.S. We need those players to play on Canadian franchises to have a chance to repatriate Stanley properly. We cannot cause Gary Bettman won't fucking allow it.

You watch...all 7 of our NHL clubs will be whittled down to Zero by 2031. No point of Canada's clubs trying to win a Cup, cause they've been cut off.

And that is harmful to the league, in terms of competitive balance. Period. D-8<

[Londoner]

Nice overreaction, Ronic.

[Londoner]

And if Vancouver fans are gonna riot every time they don't win the final, they can forget getting any sympathy. Bunch of whiny rioting tossers.

[Gertner]

My Leafs have a ton of money. They've already re-signed Gunnerson and Reimer.

They need the following:

#1 center
Puck moving defenseman
Back up goaltender

[YOUR Hero]

Those weren't Canuck fans, those were idiots. some of whomn wore Nucks jerseys. The cops should have went on a tasing rampage.

[Gertner]

Any hopes of Candian repatriation of the Stanley Cup dies last night. No Canadian NHL franchise will EVER AGAIN hoist Stanley over their heads. We can't do it up here due to inferior quality talent. All the players with passion and heart play in the U.S. We need those players to play on Canadian franchises to have a chance to repatriate Stanley properly. We cannot cause Gary Bettman won't fucking allow it.

You watch...all 7 of our NHL clubs will be whittled down to Zero by 2031. No point of Canada's clubs trying to win a Cup, cause they've been cut off.

And that is harmful to the league, in terms of competitive balance. Period. D-8<

That is completely retarded.

[YOUR Hero]

Hoping the Canucks go after Shea Weber. And can somehow move Luongo.

[LoDownM]

Doesn't he have like 11 years left on his contract? Even if they wanted to trade him, a lot of teams won't want to touch that contract.

[IC Champion]

Doesn't he have like 11 years left on his contract? Even if they wanted to trade him, a lot of teams won't want to touch that contract.

*Cough*Philedelphia*Cough*

If Luongo hits the trading block, there will be teams lining up to make offers, even if he is overrated and overpaid.

[IC Champion]

That is completely retarded.

Except the part where teams loaded with Canadians win every year. You ain't gonna win anything with two of the softest players in the league, sorry aint gonna happen. Not that you need Canadians to win, but you certainly need to play with passion and heart, something Canadians do have when it comes to the game of hockey.

[IC Champion]

Anyways.

The Canadiens need some size up front, preferably a big center, but there don't seem to be many that will be on the market, so any size up front will do. Hopefully someone in the front office gets some sense and buys out Gomez or ships him to the minors, but one things for sure, you can't pay him over 7 mil to produce 31 points and only 7 goals, and be a -15 for the season. I mean I could see if he were a plus player, then there would bringsome value to the team.

We also should offer Markov much less money, or let him walk. He's injury prone now, and will be asking for too much condering over the last two season he's only played in 45 and 7 games. We were more than fine on the back end without him, and once Gorges is healthy we will have one of the best blue lines in the league. Instead keep Wiesnewski and maybe Sopel. That will also free up some cash for the a big forward.

[IC Champion]

I mean, we really don't need Markov. We were without our two top defenceman and still made the playoffs and almost beat the team that won it. We've got plenty of depth back there, and we need more playing time for PK.

[Gertner]

2 captains were european
3 leading scorers were european
Boston's leading scorer among d men was a euro as was Vancouvers

[IC Champion]

And two of them were the Sedins, and didn't do anything in the finals.

[IC Champion]

And incase you hadn't notice, points don't always translate to wins, or tell the sign of who's the better player.

[IC Champion]

Not to mention if you look at Bostons roster it's like 80% Canadian.

[OssMan]

NHL off season thread
NBA Off season thread

[Emperor Smeat]

Bruins using the same duck boats for their championship parade this Saturday that was initially made famous by the 2004 Red Sox parade but this time given a custom yellow and black paint job.

Maple Leafs picked up another draft pick (conditional 2nd Round) from the Bruins due to them reaching the Stanly Cup finals. It doesn't matter now if Kaberle resigns with the Bruins since the pick will stay with the Maple Leafs.

Should also be interesting to see what the Capitals do this offseason since they've become the "Sharks" of the East the last few years in the playoffs.

[Stickman]

First of all, Luongo is going nowhere. He's the best goalie in franchise history hands down, vezina trophy finalist and took his team to Game 7 of the finals, so shut the fuck up with that talk.

Secondly, the Canucks are 5-1 favourites to win it next year. They just need to stay healthy and find a bit more grit and they'll be fine.

[YOUR Hero]

The Canucks need a top tier Dman.

[parkmania]

The Pens need to get healthy, and Paul Martin actually needs to show up. Apparently Malkin is fired up and wants to push himself to win the scoring title next year. Even if he falls short of that, it'll do him good to have a goal - he was kind of lackadaisical most of the time last year.

[Nicky Fives]

Canadiens have already fucked up by signing Kostitsyn..... I hope they tank it, get that troll of a coach fired so Kirk Muller can take over.....

[Sean]

Any hopes of Candian repatriation of the Stanley Cup dies last night. No Canadian NHL franchise will EVER AGAIN hoist Stanley over their heads. We can't do it up here due to inferior quality talent. All the players with passion and heart play in the U.S. We need those players to play on Canadian franchises to have a chance to repatriate Stanley properly. We cannot cause Gary Bettman won't fucking allow it.

You watch...all 7 of our NHL clubs will be whittled down to Zero by 2031. No point of Canada's clubs trying to win a Cup, cause they've been cut off.

And that is harmful to the league, in terms of competitive balance. Period. D-8<LOL what a dumbass

...

We're going to have some money to spend, more if Savard retires. I'd like to see the Bruins get another goal scorer and a defencemen. Word on the street is they're not going to sign Kaberle or Ryder unless they take pay cuts and might just replace them with Caron & Kampfer and not spend on the fa market. Going into next season we're looking at:

Lucic - Krejci - Horton
Marchand - Bergeron - Peverley
Caron - Kelly/Seguin - Kelly/Seguin
Paille - Campbell - Thornton

Chara - Seidenberg
Boychuck - Ference
McQuaid - Kampfer

Thomas
Rask

I'm pretty content with the forwards. A lot of youth & speed there and if Seguin continues his development the B's could have a handful of 20 goal scorers on the team. Before I typed this out I was confident in the defense but now that I'm looking at it in front of me, I'm a little worried that it could be the Achilles heel of 2011-2012. I can see Claude splitting up Chara/Seidenberg against deeper teams but those bottom two pairings aren't spectacular. Goaltending is all set obviously.

[Evil Vito]

<font color=goldenrod>Can't see there being too many changes for the Islanders. Most of the impending free agents don't seem to fit. Getting a young guy like Tomas Fleischmann or something to fill in on the 2nd or 3rd line would be fantastic, but probably a pipe dream. Can't see the Avalance not re-signing him. Even if they didn't, if health is no issue the Isles will surely be outbid.

I wouldn't be averse to grabbing a veteran leader type of player like Mike Grier or Rob Niedermayer to fill out a spot for a year (unlikely as vets tend to want to go to teams that may have Cup aspirations), but for the most part if they sign anybody they should try to get younger guys who may actually stick around for the rebuild.

Either way, next year will be all about getting Tavares, Grabner, etc. some more seasoning. They played great in the second half so if they can build on that getting a lower seed playoff spot is always a possibility, but they're still very much in a rebuild mode.</font>

[Skippord]

I think the Avs need a goaltender and a couple D-men

and also to resign Flash

[Gertner]

lol Paul Statsny is comin to Toronto.

[asphyXy]

Rangers need Gaborik to wake up. He needs to return to the 40+ goal scorer he was just a year ago.

Rangers need a powerplay. Went 1 for 21 on the PP in the Caps series. That series would've been an even matchup if our powerplay did something.

We planned on buying out Drury, but now he's pretending to be injured which makes him ineligible for a buyout. With the salary cap increase, it shouldn't be much of a problem for us, but it might make Brad Richards (our main target for the past six months) too expensive to sign on July 1st. I'm on the fence about Richards. 31 years old, just had a concussion, and he will command a huge contract for a long period of time. It'd be a typical Rangers signing, and I'd hate to see Richards get a No Movement Clause and be stuck with him underproducing later in his Rangers career (a la Drury).

Derek Stepan's rookie year was impressive, and if he works on his faceoffs, he could become the #1 center that we've needed since Nylander left. Stepan worked well with Gaborik when that line was given a chance. It's just a question of who would play the left side on his line.

Dubinsky-Anisimov-Callahan
XXXX-Stepan-Gaborik
Fedotenko-Boyle-Prust
Avery-XXXX-XXXX

Fill in the blanks with whoever proves themselves out of training camp (Zuccarello, Grachev, Hagelin, Thomas). If we re-sign Prospal, I could see him playing a reduced role on the 4th line, with the occasional bump up to Stepan's line. He looked very slow last year.

We still have Christensen, but I'd love to see him gone. Very inconsistent, only useful for shootouts, and his overall attitude is one of low confidence. On the other hand, Wolski is a talented winger that would be a star player if he just got faster and worked on his stride. Turns out, he's getting a skating coach and will work on his skating this off season. If Wolski turns a corner with this skating coach, pencil him in on the Stepan-Gaborik line (unless they go ahead with the plan to buy out Wolski for cap space).

If we sign Richards, everything gets shifted. Our lineup could look something like:

Wolski-Richards-Gaborik
Dubinsky-Anisimov-Callahan
Avery-Stepan-XXXX
Fedotenko-Boyle-Prust

Oh, and our defense will be set for a long time.

Staal-Girardi
Sauer-McDonagh
Erixon-XXXX

If we re-sign Gilroy, put him in the #6 spot. If not, re-sign Eminger, bring up Valentenko, Del Zotto (he'll come back with a vengeance), or Kundratek, or sign a veteran D man as a stop gap until one of our prospects is ready.

[KleptoKlown]

Bieska wants to and will re sign with the Nucks, Ehrhoff, I am not so sure about...Would be great to get rid of Ballard(he's a good dman, just not worth the 4.5 million cap hit, as he doesnt fit in with the Nucks system) That money saved pretty much guarantees we can get Ehrhoff back. I still dont know about that though, and getting Bieska and Ehrhoff seems like mission impossible.

Salo will re up at a discounted rate, or he will go to the Red Wings. Either way, he's too old to go to a rebuilding franchise, so he's going to sign on a team he thinks can win the cup. He's made his money, he wants a ring...

I WISH we could trade Lou...I am not blaming him for the cup loss, as it was the whole team that broke down in that series...but the Nucks made it to the finals in spite of Lou, not because of him. He is such a night and day, a Jykell and Hyde goalie. I would prefer some consistency instead of a flip of the coin when it comes to our goalie. IF IF IF Lou can be traded(He has a NTC, so it would have the be an Eastern team like Philly if they dont get Brygzalov or TB if Yzerman does bite...) Schneider deserves a chance at #1, Lack is looking like he could be a #1...but just to be sure, the Nucks should grab a discounted veteren like JS Gigure or Marty Turco to be the back-up. The cap hit won't be great, but the influence would be amazing.

Alberts at his 1.5 million cap hit...so long. He's not a bad dman, but when you're counting nickles and dimes...it matters. Tanev at less than 1mill is ready to be an every day dman.

I hope they can get Torres back. He;s is going to be worth more on the FA market, but hopefully he can see this team needs him and its his best chance at a cup.

Higgins...Deadline pickup, he did his job...good luck next year year.

Glass...Admired you're heart, but you're not a cup player, even on the 4th line.

I hope they can keep Hansen, but I feel like he might get an offer sheet. He's a lot better than a 3rd line grinder. Kind of the same idea as Grabner...wont really be able to show off his talents unless its with a non playoffs teams top 6.

[Stickman]

Salary cap going up $5m Canucks will sign who they want.

Every team wants a number 1 dman, few teams get them. Hamhuis and Beiksa were a great top pair.

As the saying goes, "you don't know what you have until it's gone," and with Lou we have a world class goalie, you get rid of him you might as well bring back Dan Cloutier.

[KleptoKlown]

Ehrhoff and Edler are as good a 2nd pair as any...Salo and Tanev would be a great 3rd pair(seasoned vet passing on his knowledge to the next generation.)

[LoDownM]

Jagr wants to come back and play for the Pens or Red Wings. Wouldn't mind him coming back to the Pens as long as he doesn't want some stupidly high contract numbers.

[YOUR Hero]

Jagr looked good in the world championships. But I did notice he's playing with his head down a lot more.

[Stickman]

Jagr looked good in the world championships. But I did notice he's playing with his head down a lot more.

He should be able to get away with that in the NHL now as guys aren't allowed to hit.

[Sean]

Fuck off. They're fine as long as the hits aren't high and they don't leave their feet, OBVIOUSLY.

[LoDownM]

Probably well known all ready, but the move from Atlanta to Winnipeg was approved today.

http://winnipeg.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=566556

[Sean]

I really hope this works out. Winnipeg's getting a second chance and it's better for hockey to have more Canadian based teams. Next on the agenda is the realignment...better not fuck that up.

[LoDownM]

I think they'll move Nashville to the Southeast and put Winnipeg in the Central division.

[Stickman]

Realignment after this coming season.

[LoDownM]

Yes, I know that.

[Gertner]

He should be able to get away with that in the NHL now as guys aren't allowed to hit.

You're supposed to use your words in today's pussy NHL.

[KleptoKlown]

Godamnit, just when I thought Byfuglien was in the East to stay :rant:

Glad to see another Canadian team. There are another 4-5 cities in Canada that could support NHL teams better than some of the American cities are.

[KleptoKlown]

Leave the hitting in the game and take the body armor out.

[Gertner]

Winnipeg has to prove they can handle a team because nobody went to their games before and nobody wanted to play there. I personally think it's gonna crash in about 3 years because nobody is gonna want to play there and I don't see how they'll stay competitive.

[weather vane]

Trim Thomas better win the Vezina...

[Kapoutman]

Nice mustache he had. He's one of the few who can pull it off convincingly.

[weather vane]

He is quite the man...

[Hanso Amore]

Robyn Regehr has been asked to drop his No Movement clause as Calgary has made a deal with Buffalo.

Rumor is prospects and a mid round pick. Clagary is dumping cap.

I love it. Regehr and Myers would make an amazing lockdown line.

I havent seen much of him the last few years, how has he looked? I know hes getting a bit older, but 31 isnt that bad on a 2 year deal.

[Hanso Amore]

Jeff Carter to Columbus for Voracek and a 1st

I hope this makes Vermette available.

[KleptoKlown]

Mike Richards to the Kings for Wayne Simmonds and Brayden Schenn

Start of an overhaul in Philly?

[Hanso Amore]

Holy shit. Philly is dealing. I dont like either trade for them. Ouch.

[Arashi Kage]

Sucks that Carter ended up in Columbus. I was hoping that Nash would GTFO in the near future. Less likely to happen now with Carter there. :n:

[LoDownM]

Holy shit, Philly traded their captain? Maybe they are regretting those long term contracts they offered Richards and Carter.

[LoDownM]

Never mind my last post, Bryzgalov signed a 9 year deal with them.

[Sean]

LOL Philadelphia

[Stickman]

LOL Philadelphia

this.

[Blitz]

Yeah what the fuck Philly.

[Evil Vito]

<font color=goldenrod>It's a wonderful thing everytime Philadelphia fucks up.</font>

[Sean]

I was thinking how tough Philly would be next season with a healthy Pronger and a goalie for the first time in a generation...Thanks guys!

p.s. JVR is still a gigantic shithead

[Blitz]

Leafs pick up John Michael Liles for a second round pick in 2012. I like.

[Emperor Smeat]

Some quick NHL news:

1) :rofl: Philly

2) Winnipeg will chose its old team name of the Jets instead of continuing the Thrashers line or previous rumors of them taking the AHL name of the Moose but they can't get the rights to the original Jets era due to Phoenix currently holding those rights.

[Sean]

Leafs pick up John Michael Liles for a second round pick in 2012. I like.Great business with the Kaberle trade.

1. Caron
2. 1st round pick
3. JML

...all for a player who's a shell of his former self. If the Bruins had not been gently raping the Leafs over the past season en route to a Stanley Cup, I'd be mad at PC but I'll give him a pass on it. Kudos to Burke though.

[parkmania]

LOL Philadelphia

They've petitioned to change the city's name to Ilya-delphia.

[Arashi Kage]

GO JETS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!

Buttman had said during the official NHL returning to Winnipeg press conference that the NHL would give back the Jets name if TNSE wanted it. NHL owns Phoenix - can do whatever they want.

Can't wait for this young Oilers team to mature - loaded with arguably the best young talent in the league. :y:

[LoDownM]

Some quick NHL news:

1) :rofl: Philly

2) Winnipeg will chose its old team name of the Jets instead of continuing the Thrashers line or previous rumors of them taking the AHL name of the Moose but they can't get the rights to the original Jets era due to Phoenix currently holding those rights.


They couldn't use the Thrashers name even if they wanted to, the old owners have the rights to the name still.

[Sean]

Loving the B's getting Dougie Hamilton.


Also very proud of my classmate Jamie Oleksiak getting drafted by Dallas. Big Jamie in Big D. Hopefully he can come back for one more year.

[Arashi Kage]

Classy people in attendance at the draft - booing and chanting "USA, USA" at Pierre Gauthier for speaking in French and wishing a Happy Sainte Jean Baptiste day. :nono:

[Nicky Fives]

Classy people in attendance at the draft - booing and chanting "USA, USA" at Pierre Gauthier for speaking in French and wishing a Happy Sainte Jean Baptiste day. :nono:

He spent less time in Quebec than Saku Koivu, and still learned French..... I :heart: Pierre.......

[Sean]

asjdhfalsdga;lsdfa;sdf everybody hates the Canucks, this is great.

[Skippord]

super excited the Avs took Landeskog

[KleptoKlown]

asjdhfalsdga;lsdfa;sdf everybody hates the Canucks, this is great.


Who's everybody? Minnesota has hated us since the Wild were born...

I do tend to agree with you though, more and more, the Canucks are becoming hated. 2-3 years ago, they were kind of under the radar, the team you might give a polite clap to for the effort they put in.

These days, people treat the Canucks like the Yankees, Except they haven't won shit, but everyone is hating on them.

I chalk it up to jealousy without merit...This off season will be huge for the Canucks. If they can get Bieska and Ehrhoff to sign new contracts, and move Ballard(and God willing Lou...) They will be an even better team next year.

The Canucks have something a lot of other teams wish want and pray for....Home Team Discounts.

Both Sedin's, Kesler, Burrows, and Hamhius and Maholtra took less money to stay(or sign) with the Nucks than they would have got on the open market. I hope and think Bieska will do the same soon. The fact that players seem to WANT to play for the Nucks, and will take less money to do so is a huge factor in other fans jealousy.

Canucks core is largely intact, as the Bruins...most other team(Hawks and Flyers) cant keep there core.

[Sean]

Sorry I meant "everybody in the crowd."

[KleptoKlown]

Also, :wtf: @ Philly?!?

Did they learn nothing from Roman Fuckin Checkmanuk(whatever the spelling)

They signed a Russian goalie to a 9 year contract.

Makes me feel better about Louongo at least. Diepietro and now Brygzalov have worse contracts.

They just garunteed him an average of 5 1/2 million per season. He has no motivation to do anything anymore.

Artrius Irbe is the only Russian goalie in my generation I can say anything positive about.

My English spelling also typically sucks...Add Russian players...forget about it.

[Lara Emily]

Irbe isn't Russian :p he's Latvian

[LoDownM]

I think Dipietro would be worth the money if he didn't break all his bones when a bug lands on him.

[RP]

I hate what the Blackhawks are doing.

[YOUR Hero]

I think people are not looking close at the Philly trades. They're pretty good.

[YOUR Hero]

I hate what the Blackhawks are doing.

Yea and no, that contract they just off loaded was huge. They had over paid for him, with Seabrook and Duncan already anchoring the blueline *this* deal is pretty wise ... mainly because of his 7+ million per year contract

[Stickman]

I think if the Canucks don't move Ballard he'll have a great season next year. He's a good skater, great at moving the puck and has a lethal hip check, there's no reason to move him if you don't have to.

There was some talk with Gillis and Coach V about how Ballard came into the season just assuming he'd be a top guy because of his contract. He didn't get the culture of the team until it was too late for him. They made a solid dman out of Alberts who was awful when he first came here, they can do the same with Ballard.

[Nicky Fives]

I love the Flames trading for Butler..... then they fuck it up by signing Tanguay long-term.....

[Hanso Amore]

Good luck with Butler. Inconsistent at best...

[Hanso Amore]

Byron is a decent player, but the sabres already have too many undersized forwards anyways.

[El Fangel]

Great business with the Kaberle trade.

1. Caron
2. 1st round pick
3. JML

...all for a player who's a shell of his former self. If the Bruins had not been gently raping the Leafs over the past season en route to a Stanley Cup, I'd be mad at PC but I'll give him a pass on it. Kudos to Burke though.

It was actually Colborne, not Caron but still not a bad trade.

Also, Them selecting Biggs was a great move.

[Sean]

Yeah, what am I saying, they still have Caron as a Black Ace.

[El Fangel]

Who does? Toronto? He is still a Boston prospect. Confused as to what you are saying here.

[JimmyMess]

So did Ryan Smyth cum in his pants or have a light beer or something to celebrate his return to Edmonton?

[Skippord]

what if he came in his light beer?

[KleptoKlown]

Bieska signs a 5 year 23 million dollar deal.

4.6 million cap hit is pretty good. He could have got 5+ if he went to July 1 especially considering the cap floor has gone up.

This deal might not look as good when he's 34-35 years old, but hopefully by that time the cap is a lot higher and this is just an average contract.

[El Fangel]

Took a cut to stay me thinks.

[Sean]

Who does? Toronto? He is still a Boston prospect. Confused as to what you are saying here.He is a Black Ace for Boston. I messed him & Colborne up originally, that was all.

[LoDownM]

Talbot turned down a 3 year deal with the Pens, gonna be so pissed if he goes somewhere else.

[Emperor Smeat]

Mark Howe, Ed Belfour, Doug Gilmour, and Joe Nieuwendyk are this year's members for the Hall of Fame.

No women, management, refs, or builders got enough votes to be enshrined this year.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=6712953

[Stickman]

Took a cut to stay me thinks.

He did say he'd take less to stay in Vancouver, as did Kesler, as did the SEDINS. Yes the Leafs were going to pay them more.

[Arashi Kage]

Ehrhoff's rights traded to Isles for a 4th rounder. Good or bad for the Canucks?

[El Fangel]

Ehrhoff was an integral part. Steal for the Isles if they can sign him and he is fairly young on a young Isles team that will be good soon. I think he'll sign.

[YOUR Hero]

Erhoff is good, but the Canucks have a ton of guys that are all about the same in terms of talent, what the Canucks need is a star Dman. (weber) So this is no surprise, too bad because I like erhoff, but in the cap era you have to make moves like this.

[Hanso Amore]

3 More Years of Gerbe. YES.

[El Fangel]

Varlamov going to KHL

[El Fangel]

http://dc.sbnation.com/washington-capitals/2011/6/29/2250592/semyon-varlamov-khl-washington-capitals-2011-nhl-free-agency

[Hanso Amore]

Ehrhoffs rights now belong to Buffalo...

Buffalo then sends Montadors rights to the blackhawks.

[Arashi Kage]

Surprised that no one mentioned Kariya retiring due to on going post-concussion problems. :nono:

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/story/2011/06/29/sp-kariya-retires.html

Scary to think that this could be Crosby's fate.

Too many great players lost to concussions. :n:

[LoDownM]

I read like a week ago that Crosby was cleared to do his normal summer workouts and other stuff. So I don't think he'll be going anywhere.

As for Kariya, sucks he had to retire because of a concussion, great player. And he was 11 points and games away from 1000 points and games played.

[El Fangel]

Terrible.

Think Malkin is cleared as well.

[YOUR Hero]

Ehrhoffs rights now belong to Buffalo...

Buffalo then sends Montadors rights to the blackhawks.

He wants to be a Red Wing

[MVP]

Apparently the Montreal police are ready to speak with Zdeno Chara for their investigation on his hit on Max Pacioretty. What a waste of taxpayer money. :nono:

[El Fangel]

Yep, even I as a Habs fan think that its retarded.

Also, Im stoked. Montreal vs Winnipeg on my birthday :)

Also, before the season starts. Winnipeg became my second team after Montreal as its the first time I have ever experienced a team move while I was actively into hockey and I love that we now have 7 teams in Canada.

[Nicky Fives]

Yep, even I as a Habs fan think that its retarded.

Also, Im stoked. Montreal vs Winnipeg on my birthday :)

Also, before the season starts. Winnipeg became my second team after Montreal as its the first time I have ever experienced a team move while I was actively into hockey and I love that we now have 7 teams in Canada.

same here..... Habs/Jets on openning night will be killer.....

[Hanso Amore]

He wants to be a Red Wing

Did the Wings move a few hundred miles South East and change their Colors to Blue and Gold?

[El Fangel]

8 Million signing bonus? Red Who?

[Hanso Amore]

18 Million over the first 2 years, so its front loaded. 3 Miillion over the last 3 years.

So no way he plays out the 10 years.

Regehr? Check

Ehrhoff? Check

Richards? Lets go Pegula. HAT TRICK.

[CSL]

Jagr signs with the Flyers

[LoDownM]

Talbot to the Flyers sjfksdklfhdajkl;adfsjkl;asef :mad:

[Corndad]

Wow. I think Philly dropped half their team to have money just to piss off Pens Fans I swear. Wow. First Jagr then Talbot. That first game is gonna be crazy.

[Hanso Amore]

Leino to buffalo.

Im ok with this. I really like his game.

[Hanso Amore]

<iframe width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3na86yIH-j4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

If you can watch this and not think Gerbe is an amazing skill player in the vain of Kariya, you are crazy

[YOUR Hero]

Did the Wings move a few hundred miles South East and change their Colors to Blue and Gold?
Crazy deal. Bad bad bad for the entire deal.

[YOUR Hero]

Richards to the Rangers, 9years. I dunno, guy with concussion issues, I hope he stay healthy, but there's something about guys to the Rangers that doesn't seem to work out to well most of the time.

[Blitz]

Leafs sign Tim Connolly. I'm happy with that.

[Hanso Amore]

Leafs sign Tim Connolly. I'm happy with that.

Really?

Ill give him this, Timmy is INHO one of the BEST Penalty Killing Forwards in the NHL. And that is ALL he is anymore.

Ever since his Last Concussion he hasnt been the same.

And at nearly 5 million a year, he is not worth it.

Maybe he will go off like Clark Mac in a new city, but I dont think so.

5 million for a Penalty Killer that will struggle to score 10 goals is not something I would be happy with.

[OssMan]

Varly NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[LoDownM]

Whoa, Heatley to the Wild for Havlat.

[Nicky Fives]

Heatler straight-up for Havlat??? That seems like a huge rip off for San Jose.....

[El Fangel]

Connolly isnt terrible. Fucking Habs did nothing but overpay Cole.

[Hanso Amore]

LOL

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/The-Taro-Tsujimoto-rookie-card-Honoring-an-unre?urn=nhl-wp8508

Taro finally gets his rookie card.

[Sean]

Heatler straight-up for Havlat??? That seems like a huge rip off for San Jose.....I think it's a smart move tbh. Havlat's a proven post season player which is something they desperately need.

...

Not happy at all with BP coming to the B's. Sounds like Blake Wheeler all over again except this one's a much bigger pussy.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dallas Stars signed Boston's Micheal Ryder with a $7 million 2-year deal.

[Gertner]

Leafs re sign MacArthur and Bozak.

[MVP]

Enjoy Tomas Kaberle for the next 3 years, Carolina.

[RoXer]

On Thursday, two (https://twitter.com/BRichards_1991/status/91536433222914048) strange (https://twitter.com/BRichards_1991/status/91539542628253696) tweets showed up on the Twitter page of New York Rangers (http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/teams/nyr/) center Brad Richards (http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/players/2104/)(notes) (http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/players/2104/news) that made it seemed like yet another professional athlete had their account hacked.
<center>http://l.yimg.com/a/p/sp/editorial_image/59/59b5dab80efb43e03ad4dbb98acf5d0b/puck_headlines_pacioretty_returns_to_action_brad_richards_hacked.jpg</center>
We suspected (http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Puck-Headlines-Pacioretty-returns-to-action-Br?urn=nhl-wp9157) either someone was either framing Tommy Lee of Motley Crue (https://twitter.com/MrTommyLand) or the drummer best known for documenting his, ahem, exploits with Pam Anderson had become a super hacker.
Turns out Richards was still logged into his account from his New York City hotel and with the Crue on tour in the Northeast (http://www.motley.com/news/553099-motley-crue-launches-summer-tour/), Lee just happened to hop on the right computer and played Good Samaritan by informing the Rangers' star of his goof, while signing him out at the same time.
<center>http://l.yimg.com/a/p/sp/editorial_image/2f/2f89ef49c0fbe7da1e16ca15c425d24b/motley_crues_tommy_lee_saves_brad_richards_from_twitter_hack.png</center>
Richards later found out it really was Lee and told him he was definitely (https://twitter.com/BRichards_1991/status/91701295093784576) coming to a Rangers game at some point this season.
So next time you forget to sign out of your Twitter account in a big city hotel, rest assured that some member of a 1980s hair band will rescue you.

[Arashi Kage]

Sakic!!!!!!!!!!!! One of my all-time favorite players:

<object width="560" height="349"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/17-ZSLlnAZQ?version=3&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/17-ZSLlnAZQ?version=3&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="349" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

[El Fangel]

He cant just be amazing at hockey, can he.

[Skippord]

further proves that Joe Sakic is Jesus Christ

[El Fangel]

Or in the very least the second coming.

[LoDownM]

Jets new logo

http://1.cdn.nhle.com/jets/images/upload/2011/07/110722_logos_news.jpg

[CSL]

that main one is ass. Old one is much better, they couldn't have just used that or an updated version?

[Sean]

As if the Guardians weren't enough, the Jets have evidently chose to incorporate Captain America's shield into their logo.

[Stickman]

that main one is ass. Old one is much better, they couldn't have just used that or an updated version?

They will probably introduce retro jerseys with the original. It's all about making money and selling merchandise.

[CSL]

Mike Commodore decided to not wear 64 after all :(

[El Fangel]

Commie bastard.

[Arashi Kage]

Peverley brought the Stanley Cup to my home city last Thursday. Too bad I was 3 hours out of town for work.

Sucks that the Canucks didn't win the Cup and end the Canadian team drought, but at least all the real Canucks playing for the Bruins are brining the cup home individually. :y:

[El Vaquero de Infierno]

If he can get his shit in gear, having Dany Heatley at Minnesota is going to be pretty sexy.

[weather vane]

BRUINS

[Droford]

Things not off to a good start for Winnipeg

COLEMAN, Alberta (AP) — Winnipeg Jets center Rick Rypien has been found dead in his home, the police said. An official with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police confirmed Rypien’s death on Monday, and said it was not suspicious.
Rypien is the second active N.H.L. player found dead this off-season. The former Rangers enforcer Derek Boogaard died in May because of an accidental mix of alcohol and the painkiller oxycodone.
Rypien, 27, signed a one-year, $700,000 deal with the Jets (the former Atlanta Thrashers) last month after spending parts of six seasons with Vancouver. He had nine goals and seven assists in 119 career N.H.L. games.
Rypien, a cousin of the former N.F.L. quarterback Mark Rypien, was granted an indefinite leave of absence last season to deal with an undisclosed personal matter.

[Skippord]

obviously someone is picking off NHL enforcers

[Champion of Europa]

Carcillo better be careful :( He's making enemies in an enforcer death pandemic.

[El Fangel]

:( Rumor has it, he hung himself.

[weather vane]

Always has had troubles with depression... very, very sad. RIP Rypien.

[El Fangel]

Yeah, for some reason losing hockey players bothers me alot more then celebrities. I dunno, I guess because I have alot more interest in them. Its weird knowing you wont see Boogard or Rypien next season :(

[Gertner]

I'd hang myself too if I realized I signed to play in the city of Winnipeg.

[Champion of Europa]

No thread for it in the video game forum, so I figured I'd just tack this on in this thread: Jeremy Roenick is in NHL 12.

Gonna make Gretzky's head bleed.

[Emperor Smeat]

NHL is rumored to be considering expanding Icing rules to include penalty kills as a way to increase scoring during the post-season and the regular season in general.

[Sean]

Awful.

[El Fangel]

Lets get rid of offsides while we are at it, that prevents loads of scoring chances.

[Champion of Europa]

I can see the benefit of it, but I also think all the stoppages in play will really slow things down to an almost unbearable level.

[El Fangel]

More time for commercial breaks!!!

[Sean]

They're really into making the game more casual friendly and it's a bit off-putting. Shootouts being the primary consequence of this attempted increase in viewership.

[El Fangel]

Shootouts far are the worst thing to happen regarding rule changes, I don't watch the ASG Skills Comp. Don't want to at end of OT either.

[LoDownM]

Shut your mouth. Shootouts are great.

[Emperor Smeat]

Nothing wrong with shootouts although the NHL could tweak the points system to give more priority to winning games in regulation than having the shootout be worth the same as a regular win.

3 points = win in regulation
2 points = win in OT or shootout
1 point = loss in OT or shootout
0 = loss in regulation

They've been trying for the past few years on finding and tweaking ways to increase scoring but barely any attempt to give any real motivation for winning games.

[LoDownM]

They need to ditch the trapezoid. Goalies taking risks to go get the puck from the corners is going to create more scoring chances.

[Champion of Europa]

I'm all for elimination of the trapezoid. It doesn't need to exist.

While I am a shootout fan, as well, I would prefer to see the standard 4 on 4 OT followed by the 3 on 3 OT.

[Champion of Europa]

What hockey blogs do you all follow during the difficult summer months?

[El Fangel]

Puckdaddy myself.

[Champion of Europa]

Puckdaddy myself.

Agreed.

[Skippord]

I'm all for elimination of the trapezoid. It doesn't need to exist.

While I am a shootout fan, as well, I would prefer to see the standard 4 on 4 OT followed by the 3 on 3 OT.
as long as it eventually gets to a 1 on 1 OT I am totally in

[Sean]

What hockey blogs do you all follow during the difficult summer months?Days of Y'Orr (Bruins...obviously) and of course Puck Daddy. Ryan Lambert might have the best hockey twitter on the web.

[Champion of Europa]

Days of Y'Orr (Bruins...obviously) and of course Puck Daddy. Ryan Lambert might have the best hockey twitter on the web.

Ooh, I don't follow him yet. I've got so much hockey stuff on twitter and somehow I passed him over. Thanks for the heads up.

[El Vaquero de Infierno]

When is the Yahoo fantasy league for the NHL starting up again? I am eager to retain my crown, and for Fangel to be my bitch once again.

[El Fangel]

I am not playing this year unless Hero puts in a 4 move per week limit so fags like Mayo don't cycle on the last day of a matchup because they can't win otherwise.

[El Vaquero de Infierno]

Might be an idea to reduce the number of teams as well, seen as number of people tend to sign up and then never participate.

[El Fangel]

You mean everyone outside you, me, gayo, hero, droford and moonax?

[El Vaquero de Infierno]

There did seem to be only 6 of us who were active throughout the whole season. If we could find 4 more reliable people that would be great. If we could get 6 that would be better. But I don't think that will happen.

[Champion of Europa]

I'm really interested in playing fantasy hockey. I've played fantasy basketball for two seasons, but that's kinda dead to me this year due to the lockout. So, I could get involved with the hockey.

[weather vane]

If I could ever remember to draft my team I would dummy everybody in Fantasy Hockey.

[El Fangel]

Its the same thing year after year, the person who gets Ovy, Crosby, Stamkos or whoever is leading the league in goals, assists or points inevitably abandons their team at some point.

There was SaskChamps last year who I think went like 20-180-0 or something ridiculous. It was like having the fantasy equivalent of the Leafs :P

[Champion of Europa]

I will tend to my team like I would tend to a garden of precious fruits and vegetables.

Also, NHL 12 demo out. I like the little gameplay tweaks and the new physics. Be a Pro actually looks fun to me this year.

[El Fangel]

I hope you join and stay bud, makes the league alot better.

[Champion of Europa]

Fuck Matt Cooke and his redemption tour. Fuck that guy.

[Champion of Europa]

Yahoo Fantasy Hockey is now open.

[El Vaquero de Infierno]

Perry and Daniel Sedin will ensure I win again this year.

Hero. Vamos!

[El Fangel]

A Sunday evening around 8pm would be ideal me thinks.

[Champion of Europa]

I've got a close friend who is also super in to playing fantasy hockey if we need more people.

As far as a draft the latest I have to work on Sundays is at 830, so I'm with FA on that.

[El Fangel]

Majority of work places are closed on Sunday.

This coming Sunday or the one after works best for me.

[weather vane]

Im in and im gonna draft babyyyyy

[Champion of Europa]

Yeah, one of those Sundays works best for me and my buddy. I've never been able to do a live draft before so I'm PUMPED.

[El Fangel]

It is quite fun.

[Champion of Europa]

I'm getting antsy about where Crosby will fall in the draft because of all this concussion shit.

[El Fangel]

Someone will take him top 10. You have idiots in every draft. Last year someone took Steve Mason 4th overall.

[Champion of Europa]

Wow. Mason? Really?

I just wouldn't feel comfortable taking Sid early. He could tank my whole season.

[El Fangel]

I have never selected Crosby.

[Champion of Europa]

My friend and I are going to research this shit hard. Anything less than 1st is an insult to my honor.

I bet not picking Crosby did you a lot of favors around January.

[El Fangel]

I take the same guys all the time.

[LoDownM]

I should join and just pick guys FA wants then never check it again.

[El Fangel]

You don't know who I want.

[LoDownM]

I'm sure I can go back through the past season thread and figure out some of them, but I won't, that's why to much effort.

[Champion of Europa]

Langkow back to Phoenix.

[El Fangel]

Just heard from a guy who knows the Crosbys here in Dartmouth. He was speaking to people close to Sidney and things aren't looking good for this season let alone the start.

Of course take that with a grain of salt.

[Champion of Europa]

At least they'll have Malkin, assuming he can stay healthy.

[El Fangel]

And win 30% of his faceoffs.

[Champion of Europa]

Wade Belak found dead today. Epidemic.

[El Fangel]

Oh wow.

Someone check on Gertner.

[Gertner]

I'm absolutely devastated.

[El Fangel]

This is insane. Prior to this summer, I only knew of one hockey player who had died while I actively watched hockey and that was Bourdon.

All enforcers too :(

[Blitz]

Awful. RIP Belak. So rare to see a hockey player with an actual personality.

[Emperor Smeat]

Marc Savard expected to announce his retirement soon after latest checkup shows his concussion symptoms returning and the GM already said it was unlikely he would play at all this season for his safety.

[Gertner]

Here's my story about how we came to love Belak

Belak had been playing for the Leafs for a few years on defence. He wasn't very good, but he could fight.....and then he got moved to forward and my friends and I became fascinated with him. He clearly had no clue what he was doing. It was almost like Quinn cut his head off and sent him running around the ice. I found Belak's website and a section where you could email him so I sent him one and to my surprise he emailed back hours later. I told my friends and they did the same with the same results. We all exchange emails over time and became huge fans culminating with us painting our chests to spell out his name with signs at a Leafs Wings game. We were EXTREMELY loud during the game and Belak and his teammates saw us. Belak told us that the guys were making fun of him on the bench because his fanclub consisted of 5 fat hairy guys. Belak later emailed me and asked for us to send a picture of us at the game so he could put it on his website which is still up there. We maintained contact with him over the years. We told Belak when he was a member of the Preds that we were going to paint our chests at the Wings Preds game and he invited us to meet him down in Joe Louis Arena after the game since he was a healthy scratch and he was awesome. We were all looking so forward to Wade being on Battle of the Blades because he was sure to be a hit.

What made us love Wade was he never took himself seriously and always took the time to talk to his fans. He was truly one of a kind and The Belak Brigade as we call ourselves are very sad to see him go. He was our friend and were are really going to miss him alot.

[Champion of Europa]

Gutted about Belak. He had character. Was hoping to see him on the broadcast team when I go see the Preds on the 28th.

[El Fangel]

http://i1215.photobucket.com/albums/cc518/MacPherson582/BoomHeadshot.jpg



This is from our provincial paper.

[JimmyMess]

<iframe width="420" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/iTMq3AoG0yk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I also want to find the video of Belak being interviewed about breaking the goalless record... it was hilarious

[El Fangel]

All I can find is the transcript as Youtube terminated the user who had the video uploaded.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/2007/12/05/belak_leafs_scoring_drought/

[Skippord]

if this were Criminal Minds there would already be a team hunting for the assassin

just saying

[Champion of Europa]

I can picture George Parros hunting down the killer with his Ivy League education, fists of fury, and lovely mustache.

[Skippord]

George Parros wearing a detective hat hunting people down

smell the ratings

[Champion of Europa]

Crosby to address the media tomorrow, Jets jerseys revealed, and Ovechkin signs with Bauer. Busy day.

[CSL]

jesus, it's piling up. A plane carrying KHL team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl crashed, killing most of the roster/team (the official "list" hasn't been confirmed) I've read conflicting reports on survivors, as many as 4 and as little as 1 depending where you read. Included on the roster were guys like Pavol Demitra, Ruslan Salei, Karlis Skrastins, Karel Rachunek, Josef Vasicek :(

[CSL]

"unconfirmed" reports that Ruslan Salei wasn't on board as the plane was en route to Minsk and he's Belarusian/was awaiting them

[Evil Vito]

Holy shit, horrible. I'm reading that Alexander Galimov was the lone player on board to survive. Flight engineer Alexander Sizov also survived. However both are in very serious condition.

RIP

[Evil Vito]

Now reports are saying that Galimov has died during surgery. Jesus christ.

[Londoner]

jesus, it's piling up. A plane carrying KHL team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl crashed, killing most of the roster/team (the official "list" hasn't been confirmed) I've read conflicting reports on survivors, as many as 4 and as little as 1 depending where you read. Included on the roster were guys like Pavol Demitra, Ruslan Salei, Karlis Skrastins, Karel Rachunek, Josef Vasicek :(

just heard about this, shocking news.:(

[CSL]

Demitra's agent confirmed he was on the plane. Ridiculous :(

[weather vane]

unreal

[LoDownM]

Wow. Was almost speechless when I saw this :(

[Mr. JL]

Holy shit this is sad.

[Gertner]

Horrible. There will probably be a movement to ban flying now.

[Champion of Europa]

That's just insane. And so sad. What a rough summer.

[El Fangel]

Holy fuck.

Rest in peace comrades.

[Mooияakeя™]

WTF is going on man. RIP to all of this. Belak played for the Blaze (my team here in England), remember him for a fight with Cairns.

<iframe width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/wCZ1zIOYtFw?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Friends and partner are devastated at the loss of Pavol Demitra.

[Moonax]

Very sad about the plane crash.

[Lara Emily]

Also dead is former NHLer Alexander Karpovtsev. This is so sad. I cried reading a story on Demitra.

[El Fangel]

This has been the worst summer for hockey. :(

[Gertner]

Former NHLers dead: Doing the teams off the top of my head, might be missing a couple.

Pavol Demitra: Former Cancuk, Sens, Blues
Josef Vasicek: Former Hurricane, Islander
Karel Rachunek: Former Devil, Sens, Rangers
Ruslan Salei: Former Duck, Wings
Karlis Skrastins: Former Stars, Preds, Avs, Panthers
Alexander Vasyunov: former Devil

Coach Brad McCrimmon: played for Wings, Flyers, Coyotes, Whalers, Flames, Bruins
Assistant Coach: Alexander Karpotsev: Former Leaf, Ranger, Blackhawk, Panthers
Assistant Coach: Igor Korolev: former Leaf, Jets, Blues

[El Fangel]

:(

[Mooияakeя™]

http://resources0.news.com.au/images/2011/09/08/1226131/850508-news-image-ice-hockey-team.jpg

All bar one of the team gone...

[Emperor Smeat]

Has to be a bit surreal or crazy for the only survivor knowing that either his spot on the plane was the only safe spot or had he done anything differently (ex. picked a different seat, swapped spots with someone else, etc) he wouldn't have been as lucky to survive.

[CSL]

as morbid as it sounds given his current condition, future quality of life, survivors guilt and so forth, I doubt he's going to see himself as very lucky

[Mooияakeя™]

Yeah, 80% burns or so as well as immense mental scarring and maybe even some self-doubt/blame, depression and anger all related to him being spared and the others dying.

[El Fangel]

This is one messed up summer. EVEN MORESO for me as I was reading the article on the NHL's plan if something like this happened only a day or two ago.

[Domino]

Yesterday was a sad, sad day for the hockey world. Rest in peace to all who were in the crash.

[Gertner]

even though Karpotsev died, this is still the funniest rant I've ever heard about a player

<iframe width="420" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3iviLY1RvNc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Gertner]

Instead of just canceling the game outright, Dynamo Minsk held a "hockey funeral" for the victims of Lokomotiv. Not one fan returned their ticket. Here's the video.

<iframe width="560" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/AI8YPm_tYXA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Evil Vito]

<font color=goldenrod>Seeing the little kids in the Lokomotiv jerseys is just heart wrenching. Can't even fathom that, having your entire favorite team perish like that.

Class act by Dynamo Minsk.</font>

[LoDownM]

Galimov, the only player to survive the crash, died from his injuries.

[El Fangel]

Toews Headshot on a 10 year Old

http://blogs.theprovince.com/2011/09/12/jonathan-toews-checks-child-in-head/

[KleptoKlown]

This has been an insane off season.

Typically speaking, it's better that we separate sports from our daily lives. Sports are something that should be considered entertainment, fun, and a way to unplug from the day to day grind.

This offseason has been a test of that.

Me personally, I was a huge Rick Rypien fan, very disappointed when the Canucks let him sign with the Jets, but also excited that he would get a chance to play more than 5 minutes a games.

When Wade Belak died, Gertner was the first person I though of.

Boorgaard, Demitra and the whole Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team.

These events bring a sad reality us fans typically like to taunt and chirp at each other about.

This is surreal..

[El Fangel]

I know what you mean bud, normally Ill chirp with Gertner and trash-talk with people. This offseason has left me and a lot of hockey fans with a bad taste in our mouths. Its going to be a depressing few few games to start the season. Normally I am excited but I really haven't paid much attention to anything this offseason.

No idea where I'm going here at all. Just depressing.

[Gertner]

I can't wait for the season to start, but not having Luke Schenn signed is worrying me.

[Champion of Europa]

The Toronto Sun says Schenn should have a deal "done by Friday" for around 3 years, $4 mil annually.

[Gertner]

Was kinda hoping for a couple years longer, but I figured it'd be 4 mill 4-5 years. No problem with that deal. Love Schenn.

[El Fangel]

If they don't sign him, they are morons. Best player they have drafted in a long time.

[Champion of Europa]

TEEMU FTW.

1 year, 4 million.