Some interesting info from the Fan 590 (Toronto Sports Talk), courtesty of Scott Taylor (of the Winnipeg Free Press) yesterday worth passing along....

1. Winnipeg has an ownership group in place, a new arena, and has had discussions with as many as 5 current teams about bringing a team back to Winnipeg. The city is vastly improved as a viable market since 10 years ago, and the return of the Jets is widely considered a mere formatlity at this point....not so much a question of if, but when. Quebec City is a significant possibility as well, but they have venue issues to deal with. Harold Baldwin is also working hard to return a franchise to Hartford. The consensus seems to be that the near future will see the league make a strong effort to move teams back into markets where people actually care about them (ie, northern U.S. and Canada). The only reason it's not happening already is because of the uncertainty regarding the future economic landscape...nobody's going to sell right now, but once everything's cleared up (whenever that is), things will likely happen quickly.

2. Taylor quoted, first-hand, one owner as saying their first offer to the players will involve a "cap" (or variation thereof) of $31 million. Should they reject it (which they will), they'll lock out the players. The owners' next offer will be $28 million. Following it's inevitable rejection, the next offer will be $25 million. The owners are collectively committed to this hard line (reportedly), and while there are no doubt a few owners who will start worrying after a period of time, Bettman only needs *8* votes of the 30 owners to maintain the lockout at any given time. The consensus is that he will have those 8 votes in his back pocket (ie, owners who will refuse to budge) for a significant length of time. Read into that what you will.

Just a warning, Scott Taylor is an idiot and I wouldn't take his word as anything close to gospel. 6 months from now he could be writing an article stating there was never any chance of Winnipeg getting a team again and that he knew that owners would fold.

However, if he is even close to being right on these issues I'm the happiest person on this board right now (MikeVic could be tied) :)

Very interesting info Simms.

I'd like to see Winnipeg back in the NHL, it's a crying shame they lost the Jets to Phoenix.

Harold Baldwin? Stay away from that carpetbagger Hartford, he's always announced as a player, but here in Minnesota he ended up being the Minority owner for the North Stars and didn't help at all when we lost the team to Dallas.

Winnipeg's answer to Al Strachan, then? :)

I'd love to see the White Out return to the Jets or Brass Bonanza and the Whale or the Quebec/Montreal rivalry... sheer hatred there.

http://www.sptimes.com/2004/06/04/Hi...ne_to_Li.shtml
"I don't really see the point in it. It's too barbaric," she said. "The red team . . . who's the red team?" she asked a co-worker, who shrugged and giggled.

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news...0&refer=canada
In Ecclestone's bar, three of the 50 televisions were tuned to see Tampa Bay tie the series 2-2 with a 1-0 win in Calgary. Twenty other sets were tuned to ESPN, which was showing the women's college softball national championship game between UCLA and the University of California-Berkeley.

That first article seems to convey more of a gender bias than a regional one. Notice that all the women quoted gave implications that their husbands were perfectly rabid about the series.

Given the full context of the second story, it's actually a pretty cool article. But losing to college softball 20 TVs to 3 is somewhat disheartening....especially in a bar owned by a former player.

I'm pretty sure you could have found a women's yoga class going on in Calgary during the game last night with women who didn't like hockey.... ok, maybe not. :D

Losing to women's softball sucks though...

Reports indicated that 60,000 were on the Red Mile last night...

More likely closer to Damien Cox.

``But we had enough Yankees that had moved here to make it work,'' Caldwell said.


Now, that I like!

I would like to see a Canadian quoted like this in the future concering Nascar:

"But, we had enough Rednecks that moved here to make it work," Lefluer said.

:D

Interestingly, auto racing in Canada is very similar to hockey in non-traditional markets - a small but die-hard following.

Well, then, I would start complaining to Nascar, asking for a track! If Atlanta can have a NHL team, then Calgary deserves a track!



Disclaimer: This is all in good fun, Personally, I think it's good for the sport to be in all major markets so it can grow and be enjoyed everywhere.

Our current track is probably "ECHL" level, if that, and that's all we can handle. They get some decent crowds and the drivers come from many different places.

Dammit, Cards, I've had just about enough of your Canada/US rivalry crap in our Nascar threads.

I'm glad Cards is back. :)

I is sorry :(

:D

I'm glad we have hockey in the south, otherwise I would have never been able to strike up friendships with people like Satch.

Are we going to game 7?

Or is this the last hockey game we see for a year:(

I'm also glad Cards is back. I felt guilty when he left 'cause I was one of the more "vocal" people during that whole US/Canada hockey thing a while back. There was no harm intended though. :(

Don't forget the World Cup bbor...

This could be the greatest moment in Flames' history (underdog team winning it all) or it could be the start of one of the worst disasters (one game away only to lose Game 6 and 7).

Bob Probert in jail again.
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?ID=86404

Yikes. Poor Probert. "The Bad One" indeed.

Quote from Phil Jackson in the Ventura County Star:

"The one thing I hate is missing the hockey playoffs because of the basketball playoffs," he said. "It's alsmost as good a playoffs as the basketball is."

In this year's Finals, he said, "I'm kind of rooting for Calgary... I think Canadians deserve to have the Stanley cup back in Canada."

I think tonight is the night! Get ready Calgary, cause you are going to party!

bbor, don't you have hockey in the summer? The U of M has a model camp(future college players) in 2 weeks with a weeks worth of games, and then in July we have our U16 and U17 camps and games.

WC is in September, some games are going to be here in the Twin Cities, I have tickets for those!

I wouldn't think that Calgary fans would want the cup just because they're the only Canadian team left. They obviously are the best team in the NHL this year. If they were from Uraguay, they would still deserve the Cup for the way they played this year.

Iginla= Conn Smyth winner. That's my guess anyway.

I am too busy preparing for my season to go watch any games..this summer there is an under 17 russian team touring through Toronto for 7 games or so...i would'nt mind seeing some of that.

I keep the kids i coach off the ice until September,i believe in burnout at a young age so i hope they would enjoy playing other sports in the summer.

Not only that but after going 8 months straight of 15-20 hours a week of coaching the only ice i wanna see in the summer is in my drink:D

Come on Flames! Lets get it done tonight!!!

As much as I would like to see an NHL team back in Winnipeg, I don't think it'll happen unless they really do have some sort of salary cap of $20M or something like that. I don't see Winnipegers paying $80 for a ticket just to keep a team here. :)

I don't coach, but, I do skate with my 5yo daughter and she is off the skates too. We rollerblade once in awhile, but, that's about it.

What level do you coach at? Where at?

I coach a 10 yo rep team just outside of Toronto.I love teaching kids the game but i hate the polotics involved.Unfortunatly you can't have 1 without the other :(

I love to rollerblade...i go at least 3 times a week...it is a great stress reliever.I have no kids to rollerblade with....yet :)

Sorry to the Flames fans out there, but I was really jonesing for a game 7. This series is too good to end any sooner. I know I'll be glued to my tv Monday night.

SI

I thought Calgary would win tonight, now I think the odds are against them, but, I'm still hoping they do it.

I'm pulling for the Flames because I have no particular preference towards either team. However, one of our little circle of hockey people here in Kansas (not a lot of us) is from Calgary so we're all rooting for them for his sake.

SI

Richards scores and Tampa wins...

No back-to-back wins all series...

Khabibulin wins after a loss...

First goal wins...

Flames can set a record with road victories if they win on Monday...

No team has won the cup with a losing record at home (Flames are 5-7)...

Iginla looks gassed...

Regehr left the game in a foot cast...

Kiprusoff looked bad tonight, fighting the puck...

It doesn't look good.

Is this a goal? Apparently ABC had a better picture but I can't find it anywhere...

Sure looks that way. You can see space between the puck and the line, and from that angle it's hard to imagine how the puck being in the air would influence anything.

http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/for...4&postcount=56

Dola...

And even if the puck *is* over the line, that angle (I haven't seen any others) doesn't prove that it is conclusively...there's no way the refs could overturn that.

And fwiw, Sutter was asked about it after the game and was *very* quick to make it clear that he had no argument with the call (or lack thereof) whatsoever. He had seen the replays and agreed there was no conclusive evidence that the puck had gone in. Given his comments earlier this week, I can't imagine any circumstances under which he wouldn't at least take a passing shot at the refs if he really believed he had a case.

I'm pulling for Calgary as much as anybody on this board, but there's no way I can, in good conscience, insist that should have been a goal.

It's done and over with anyway, time to move on and win Game 7. Last nights 2nd period was awesome huh?! I'd love to see 3 periods of that on Monday.

No, I understand the physics of it. I'm just looking at a play where the puck clearly hits the bottom of the goali'es pad along the ice and trying to figure out where all this "well, if the puck was three inches in the air" talk comes from.

As for Sutter, he's a smart guy. He's already going to get nailed by the league for his conspriacy talk, so he knows enough not to go to the well again. The games is done, so no point bashing the league and the officials right before a game seven.

Even if Sutter thought it was a goal, he had to get his team focused on the next game. I heard Gelinas' voice when it was first brought to his attention by a reporter and you could just hear the anvil of disappointment come over him. That's what Sutter is trying to avoid.

Last night on his HNIC interview Gelinas actually said something to the effect of "to have a missed call cost you the Cup is very hard to swallow". I know what he meant, but the fact that he's even thinking like that is a bad sign for Calgary.

The Sens have apparently picked their new head coach, and it's.... Bryan Murray???

Apparently so, according to TSN. This despite weeks of reports that it was down to Francis, Quenneville and Acton. (Yet another excellent job by the crack roster of Ottawa sports reporters.)

I almost fell out of my chair when i heard this.WTF are they thinking?

They have a Stanley cup worthy team and they hire a guy who has'nt coached in how many years?

Quennville was'nt good enough?....Tell you the truth i am surprised Quennville is still out there,is his health a problem?

Why did'nt Acton get this job as he was supposed too?

From ESPN.com

7) Who will win Game 7?
50.8%	Calgary Flames
49.2%	Tampa Bay Lightning
Total Votes: 10,362

SI

I cant wait to play them in next years playoffs.....Theres no way he's better then Martin

Oh....and GO FLAMES

Let's go Lightning

Interesting bit with the computer animation of the game 6 goal/no goal controversy.

I don't know if I believe the animation/simulation especially (even though it matches my own perception of the footage) but I thought it was interesting nonetheless.

Is it just me, or does it seem like players are losing their sticks a lot more today? :)

Damn you Bobby Clarke for trading Ruslan Fedotenko

Ah, I love living near Philadelphia.

http://cbs.sportsline.com/nhl/players/playerpage/435241

I live in Pittsburgh and I still damn him. Pikitian better be worth it.

LOL...I was waiting for someone to bring this up.

Calgary is playing like they are still waiting for a game 6 replay on that controversial non-goal.

Pitkanen will be a way better player IMHO

What a crazy save by Nikolai....

Series and cup winning save......

Great save by Kiprasuff

There was one by Mikka now... :) It's not over yet.. go Calgary!!

*sigh* I have to listen to Game 7 instead of watching it because of a final for a night class. So, I didn't see the save but it must have been good because the radio guy for Tampa pretty much had a spasm .

It's sad this thread will be coming to an end. :(


Todd

Stupid penalty.

Good call. Definately a penalty and Calgery basically blows it. Good job by Tampa Bay tonight.

The drama continues... :)

Penalty my ass...guy had his head down and got filled in.....he was looking at his feet that's why he got it in the head...

What a bullshit call by Fraser......good idea to bring him back for game 7.

Now he calls an even up penalty.....Fraser needs to be seen in this game i guess.

And that's the game. Exciting finish.

Dola...TB was the better team tonight...

Frazier is a fuckin terrible official.

Stick to the face has got to be a penalty man.

Yup. My thought exactly. The guy was hunched over and had his head down. That wasn't high-sticking, hitting from behind, or charging. It was a hit. :mad:

I totally agree with you! What a bullshit penalty. He knew it too, thats why he let Jerome yell at him so much.

If I'm sliding across the ice and someone's stick hits my face is it a penalty?

I'm so stunned the Bolts won after the Flames got hosed by the league. Good job NHL, this is now twice you've fucked over a small markey club in Game 6 of the Finals to cost them the cup.

That Nikolai save was awesome, Vincent had that really nice move that led to the 2nd goal, and Andreychuk got a Cup.. it was a good game, but I'm just sour because of the penalty at the end, and the no-goal stuff from yesterday. :(

That isnt what happened.

Anyone else kind of tired of the "old man finally gets his Stanley Cup" story? I mean, there's one or two fo these every single year. It's nice that someone who played for 22 years finally has a championship, but it seems like they try to make the "feel good" story of the hockey season and it's just starting to get, and no pun intended, old.

See 1993 L.A/Toronto game # 6 Gretzky high stick on Gilmour.......guess who the ref was?

Has Fraser read the rule book since then?

It's the same idea. If the guy was skating upright, or had his face up, and got hit with a stick.. it's high-sticking... St.Louis is a short player, he was hunched over, and had his head down. I need to see another replay, but from what I remember the stick was below Ferrence's waist...

My opinion, it wasn't a penalty. He got his fuckin bell rung. Too bad.

But here's what really annoys me. Did the program director, or whatever the guy is called who decides when and where to switch cameras, have a clue as to what's going on? Dave Andreychuk is one of the greatest players to have never won a Stanley Cup. To top it off, he takes a stupid penalty that will make him sit in the box as the seconds are counting down. And it still takes a SOLID TWO MINUTES to get a shot of him being congratulated by his teammates.

I don't want to see a panning shot of the Tampa crowd. I don't want to see Iginla doubled over in agony as his team has lost. I don't want to see Commodore or any other red-bearded guy sulking. As soon as that clock hits 0.0, put the damn camera on the box and show Andreychuk coming out celebrating. The guy's been waiting forever!

Unbelievable.

Thank god i don't have to see that guy polishing the damn cup anymore.....it was like he was rubbing a little girls knee.

Kinda perverted.

shut the fuck up Bettman.

let the war begin...

I'm sure we'll see it enough times in the next few days to know inside and out what happened. The last time I saw it, it looked like he brought the stick up, but it might have been the angle. For now, I'm saying it was the right call. I could be wrong. (Cue the pissed off Flames fans or people who had money on the Flames to tell me I am wrong...and continue)

How do they fit EVERY team to ever win it on the Cup?

The cup is taller than St.louis ...LOL

I think the St Louis penalty had a couple of things going on: he got spun aroundm his head was down, he's a midget, and well... it IS Fraser.

They just said how :)

There's 13 years on each band, this year a band gets retired and they start a new one. So there's only so many teams on at once, all the recent ones.

BTW...they called the penalty charging.

Charging????

Wtf??

Why isn't anyone questioning the penalty that put Calgary back into the game? That was even less deserved than the one against Calgary.

He's a damn Leprechan

Richards for mvp sounds about right...now i know why he was chosen to be on the olympic team.

Dola. If you want to talk about that one, let's talk about the ones Tampa got in the 1st period. Point of the story...officiating sucks....and so does my spelling.

No fun in that :D

Charging:

Charging shall mean the actions of a player who, as a result of distance traveled, shall violently check an opponent in any manner. A "Charge" may be the result of a check into the boards, into the goal frame or in open ice.

Looks like what happened to me...yeah, that's a pretty subjective definition. :D

could have been the avs.

sigh

Fraser was right.
Iginla should have been sent off too.
The better team won.
Andreychuk ties Borque's record.
The Stanley Cup is still the single best championship moment in all of sports.

Pretty darned good for a Monday night.

because Tampa's coach isn't a whiny bitch?

is that the right answer?

3 steps has always been the rule of thumb...any more than that and you risk getting called......From the goal line to the back boards is 5 feet(i think) Can you take more than three steps there?

Disagree. Let him yell, its not hurting anyone at that point.


I forgot who it was who said, "In every other sport, you play for the championship. But in hockey, you play for The Cup."

The retired bands get "unrolled" and are displayed flat at the Hockey Hall of Fame. In a way (probably because it's the earliest teams that have been retired thus far), those are almost as impressive to look at as the Cup itself. Very cool.

And I believe it was the stick to the face that did the damage.

Flames won it in 6, NHL gets their wish by giving the cup to TB. Now the posturing will get a billion times worse.

Fraser was right. .......No never
Iginla should have been sent off too..........Perhaps,but Fraser would have been stoned next time he was in Calgary,he still might be.
The better team won.........Agreed,better skilled team at least.
Andreychuk ties Borque's record.....yay!
The Stanley Cup is still the single best championship moment in all of sports.....Whole heartedly agree.

Pretty darned good for a Monday night.......Hockey...beer...friends...small controversy.....awesome Monday night:)