Won't help if he goes to the rangers

I dunno. With a -22, he can't be any worse.

SI

He could be on the Pens :)

Philly press reports Clarke is looking at Caps goalie as replacement for Hackett -Great another washed up goalie we'll overpay for too - just trade Gagne next!

Team Schizo- shitso- phrenia strikes again!
Somebody get Clarke away from the trade phones before we drop to 7th seed like Bill Clement said tonite!

Well, TSN is reporting that the Jagr deal is done, pending league approval.

Details?

If it needs leag ue approval it must mean assloads of cash exchanged hands.

Apparently it's for Anson Carter. The Caps pick up $20M of the $44M left on the rest of his contract. Jagr also defers $1M a year for the rest of the deal.

Yep, it is a done deal pending league approval.

The Rangers are so loaded....and watch. I bet they don't even make the playoffs.

As if being a Capital's fan wasn't bad enough...

Link


Capitals' Owner Clashes With Fan at Game



By Jason La Canfora
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 27, 2004; Page A01

Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis was involved in a physical altercation with a season ticket holder at MCI Center on Sunday night after being taunted and jeered by fans during the team's loss to Philadelphia, the Capitals' first home game since Leonsis traded all-star winger Jaromir Jagr to the New York Rangers.

The fan, Jason Hammer, 20, a resident of the District, said Leonsis grabbed him by the neck and threw him to the ground after he had led a mocking chant of Leonsis during the game and hoisted a sign chiding him. Some witnesses explained the confrontation differently, offering varying accounts of the severity of the clash.

Even so, Leonsis called Hammer yesterday to apologize for putting his hands on him and invited Hammer to join him in his owner's suite for the team's next home game. Leonsis declined to comment publicly on the matter. Hammer said he would not press charges against Leonsis.

"Ted called me personally to apologize and was very honest and gentleman-like, and I appreciated the call," Hammer said. "I think both he and I are going to drop it and continue on and have it be like that."

The incident is out of character for Leonsis, 48, a gregarious team owner who routinely speaks with fans during games and responds to hundreds of e-mails from Capitals' followers -- many of them critical -- each day. But Leonsis has been under increasing pressure, on and off the ice, this season as the Capitals have skated to the second-worst record in the National Hockey League and are projecting losses of close to $30 million. He traded Jagr on Friday largely to partially ease the burden of his $11 million annual salary.

Hammer sits across the ice from Leonsis's box at MCI Center and Sunday night carried a sign to the arena saying, "Caps Hockey; AOL Stock -- See a Pattern?" to the game. Leonsis is vice chairman of America Online, whose stock value has dropped precipitously since Leonsis bought the Capitals in 1999.

Hammer was also among those in his section chanting at Leonsis through the game, cheering, "Thank you, Ted, Thank you, Ted, You Suck," to voice their displeasure over the Jagr trade.

"I will admit we were jeering him," Hammer said in a telephone interview. "But it wasn't just me, I'll put it to you like that."

Various fans who said they were seated in the lower bowl at MCI Center said they saw Leonsis respond to their chants by standing and waving them over, as if inviting Hammer into his box to talk.

"I thought it was kind of a gesture like, 'Bring it on,' " said Elliot Golden, a college student who said he witnessed the taunting as well as the confrontation between Leonsis and Hammer.

Hammer said he did not intend to venture over to Leonsis's box and did not think much of the situation, and left the game with his father and some friends. As he walked through the concourse Hammer said he was holding his sign above his head, but not chanting at Leonsis. He said Leonsis then approached him.

"The next thing I know we're near the owner's box exit [to leave the arena] and Ted comes running up," Hammer said. "I didn't even know he was on me until his hands were strangling me. He was saying he was going to 'kick my [butt].' . . . The security guards came and broke it up, and pulled me away to the side, but Ted was still trying to come at me again."

Capitals sources offered a different version. They said Leonsis was outside his box talking to fans and signing autographs when Hammer thrust his sign near Leonsis's face and derided him. Leonsis then shoved Hammer aside, the sources said.

MCI Center security personnel and spokesmen said they were aware of an incident between Leonsis and a fan after the Capitals' 4-1 loss, but declined to comment further. Frank Brown, an NHL spokesman, said he was unaware of the incident and declined to comment.

Richard Hayden, a 20-year season ticket holder and area attorney, said he saw the incident from the onset and recalled that the scuffle ensued after Leonsis tried to take Hammer's sign. "Ted tried to grab the sign out of [Hammer's] hands and at one point the security guards had to pull him off," Hayden said. "Ted was livid like you wouldn't believe; he was like a bulldog. He really went after him. Ted was really, really agitated."
Golden, who said he has never met Hammer before, said that Leonsis pushed his friend, Cyrus Tavaria, aside to get to Hammer.

"Ted grabbed [Hammer] and threw him across the concourse," Golden said in a telephone interview. "He grabbed him, it looked like around the collar, and had him by his jersey and drove him backwards and pushed him down. . . . That guy wasn't trying to hit Ted at all, and the security people came in and the victim was saying, 'I didn't hit him, he pushed me, he pushed me.' Ted made at least a half-dozen lunges at the guy and was escorted back to his suite."

In a separate telephone interview, Tavaria said: "I didn't catch what they were saying, but Ted and this guy [Hammer] started going back and forth [verbally]. They were pretty close to each other -- within 10 or 15 feet -- and the guy showed Ted his sign and then all of a sudden Ted shoves me aside -- he didn't shove me hard but he moved me aside -- and then he went at the guy.

"The thing I remember most is they were pushing and shoving back and forth trying to knock each other over and the guy got shoved back into the wall. There were a whole bunch of security guards and it took about three of them to restrain Ted. They really had to hold him back."

Tavaria said Leonsis never put his hands on Hammer's neck. "I definitely would remember if I had seen that," he said.

Hammer said he explained to security personnel that he did not instigate the contact and that he was allowed to leave after deciding not to press charges. Hammer said he has a cut on face and a bruise on his knee, which Hammer said he used to break his fall.

Sources close to Leonsis said they expect the Capitals' owner will significantly alter his relations with fans in the wake of the incident and anticipate there will be more security personnel outside his box during games.

ESPN.com news services
NEW YORK -- The NHL has suspended Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis for one week and the team has been fined $100,000 following an incident between Leonsis and a fan.




Jason Hammer told The Washington Post that Leonsis placed his hands on his neck and tossed him down to the ground after the Capitals' home loss to Philadelphia.

Leonsis, a vice chairman of America Online, later apologized to Hammer, a 20-year-old Caps season-ticket holder who had taunted the owner.

In issuing the penalties to Leonsis and the Caps, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said, "I have been briefed by NHL Security on the incident and understand that Ted Leonsis and Jason Hammer have amicably put this matter behind them.

"Nevertheless, as in other instances involving players, coaches or managers, we hold all members of the NHL family to a higher standard than the general public. Even in those cases when there were instances of alleged provocation, we have made it clear that NHL personnel need to do everything possible to avoid a confrontation with fans and the failure to do so is not acceptable."

Leonsis can have no contact with the team, including attending any games or other team functions, for a week.


http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=1721387

Meanwhile, watching Blues-Thrashers on TurnerSouth.

Heatley looks better than I anyone could have hoped at this point, although it seems to me that he's only 85-90 percent at most. Not so much the injury itself, IMO, more an issue of looking like he's not really in game shape just yet.

And in the 2nd intermission, there was tape of some classy comments by various Blues players (I caught Pronger & Weight, there were a couple of more before that I believe) about the respect they have for Heatley's rapid rehab, wishing him well (just not tonight) and so forth. I don't know exactly how to explain why the short clips made an impression with me, they just seemed very sincere in their comments & I thought it showed some class on their part.

There was nothing but respect while Heatley was in Madison. The way that I look at it is that the whole accident was just that, an accident. I don't think it reflects on his character overall. Just a truly horrible accident. He was correct in showing remorse and trying to piece his life back together even though his friend was no longer there. I hope Heatley continues to improve.

Glad to see Heatly back. I hope he can put everything behind him, because he is one of the most exciting players I've ever seen.

Also glad to see the Stars score 4 in the third to beat the Senators! #1 GPG vs. #28 GPG and they lose 5-3. Check it out on Sportscenter if you get a chance...total meltdown.

Dear Stars..

thx for the help

yours in hockey
the leafs

:D

Well bbor, if you can't beat 'em, let someone else do it! Poor Lalime...he's getting raked over the coals up there in capitol of leaf-land, isn't he?

I hope so...the more turmoil in Ottawa the better...But ...ya know..Alfredsson has already "Guarenteed" the Sens a cup...so the rest of us may as well not even try.

I can confirm that fans here in Ottawa are flipping out.

Which is odd, because Lalime is the same goalie he's always been, and two months ago they all thought he should be on Team Canada.

Is Ottawa turning into Toronto?

We go through this with Belfour/Quinn/Sundin almost daily.

Not good times up here in Ottawa after Saturday night.

If you missed the game... well, the Leafs did everything short of pee on the Sens bench, and Ottawa didn't fight back at all. Just a pitiful performance. But the way folks up here are taking it, you'd think they just lost game seven of a playoff series. They want Muckler to trade for George Laraque, call up the minor league goons, bring Rob Ray out of retirement... you name it. With the Leafs in town on Thursday, the normally docile Ottawa media is calling the Sens' manhood into question.

With the way Saturday's game ended, and with the two teams playing again so soon, and with all the hype, this one looks like a bloodbath. Which, if you've watched hockey for any amount of time, you know can mean only one thing: nothing at all will happen.

JD was on the radio in Toronto today saying Muckler has been burning up the phone lines trying to get a tough guy in Ottawa before Thursday.

The Oil want a 1st round DP for Laraque.Kinda steep for him i'd say.

That is steep. But if I'm Ottawa, I might pull the trigger.

Far too steep. If they just need someone to fight, they have to be able to get someone servicable in the minors, off the street, or for a very low pick. Hell, they should talk to those idiots putting together that Gladiators On Ice nonsense and see if anyone is available. Tony Twist? Link Gaetz?

That's the problem. They have guys who can fight. Shane Hnidy can fight. But he got his ass kicked by Domi on Saturday. Chris Neil can fight. But when trouble broke out in the third, he was nowhere to be found (even though he was on the ice).

It's clear that the Leafs, among other teams, don't respect the Sens in the toughness department. This is a case where perception is reality. Nolan ran Spezza, and nobody did anything. McCabe bloodied Hossa, and nobody did anything. Martin put Hnidy and Neil on the ice at the end of the game on Saturday to stop Domi and Perrot from causing trouble, and they went ahead and did it anyways. It was as if Neil wasn't even there.

They have minor league goons they could bring up. What would that solve? One more guy to be a punching bag for the Leafs? They need a top heavyweight, and they need one now.

That they may need, but for a first rounder? How much did Bashear go for a few years ago? A semi-skilled guy, if I recall. Hlavac or someone like that? I dunno.

A Scott Parker type would come cheaper and still get the job done, I reckon.

Brashear went for a second round pick, I believe. Keep in mind the Sens will finish in the top five of the league, so you're looking at a #25 at the lowest.

Now, given that the Sens are the favorite to win the Cup this year but have now been exposed as possibly lacking the toughness to do it, do you pay the steep price? If landing Laraque gives you a better chance to win the Cup, you do it. Don't worry about some first rounder who won't play for five years. You have a window now.

Remember, Muckler dealt a first rounder for Smolinksi last year. Right now the Sens need an enforcer a lot more than they need yet another talented, soft forward.

I'm not sure he would get the job done. The bottom line is that the Sens have played like a team that's scared of Tie Domi. Twice in two years, Domi has gone after one of their players and nobody has done a thing. Neil won't go near him. Hnidy did, and got hammered. And because of that, the rest of the Leafs play a little bigger. They know their big dog is bigger than the other teams', so they run around.

Compare that to how the Leafs play against the Flyers. Domi has a tough time against Brashear, so he can't run around without being held accountable. The rest of the Leafs don't either. It sounds like caveman thinking, but sometimes that's the way it works.

So the question is: can the Sens get a guy who'll put Domi in his place? Laraque could. Simon probably still could. Parker is a maybe. Some minor leaguer won't. Rob Ray last year definetely couldn't.

I guess the Sens trade of Roy a few years ago is biting them on the @ss now.

Jeez..ijust feel dirty...a guy with a Maple Leaf handle trying to make the Sens a better team:D

If Braeshear went for a 2nd round pick then Laraque definatly is'nt worth a 1st.I find Braeshear a usable player that won't hurt you when he's on the ice.I can't say the same for Laraque.Having said that....as a Leaf follower i hope the Sens DO make that trade:)

Chara did a nice number on Mccabe on Saturday night...that was hilarious...he swung Mccabe around like he was a doll..that dude is STRONG!.

Yeah. Would have been nicer if he hadn't hurt himself doing it.

I would try to get both Ryan Smyth and Georges Laraque out of Edmonton. Both would add a lot of toughness and character to Ottawa and neither would back away from the Leafs. I think Smyth might welcome a change and a chance to play for a legitimate cup contender.

It sure would be a better acquisition than Bondra, IMO.

And the answer is....

Todd Simpson.

Yes, Todd Simpson, rugged defensemen and one time Flame, Panther, Coyote, Duck and likely something else along the way.

I guess this is a start. It sure as hell beats bringing Rob Ray out of retirement. I've always liked Todd Simpson, seems like a solid, tought defensemen. There has to be some knock on him though, as he seems to get shipped around a lot.

Karim, any thoughts?

Should be interesting to see what happens. I reckon Simpson will go out and fight right away. A good sign for his new team and it was why he was brought to Ottawa.

Chief, can we get a scouting report on Todd Simpson?

Sens / Leafs and Avs / Wings tonight...and I have to work... :(

Sure thing, guys.

Todd Simpson has the tough pedigree you excpect from a stay at home defensman who leans on a veteran career and associated savvy. He doesn't back down from the other toughs, he knows how to play dirty if he needs to, and he has a good functional understanding of defense and where he needs to be. He's also big and uses that size to block shots.

Now the bad, and the reasons I was deliriously happy to see him go. Guys, he wasn't even going to make the Yotes top six, you realize that? He only went to us in the waiver draft, because Carney broke his foot in the last exhibition game (setting off an endless stream of defense injuries that have kept Simpson in the lineup the whole season).

Anaheim's defense has been plagued by the horribly ill-advised turnovers at just the wrong time this year. Simpson was Exhibit A in why this was. The guy is a horrible passer out of the zone. I mean, really frickin' bad. And he can't skate out well either. He's too slow to beat an even mediocre forechecking forward, and his stickhandling is subpar. Speaking of his slowness, he also can't keep up with quick forwards (in fact, they make him look like a statue). He can get by doing the crease-clearing stuff, but as part of a moving defensive system, let's just say not all the parts are moving with him on the ice. This also causes him to make some dumb penalties, which isn't toughness but him trying to save his own ass.

He also contributes very little on offense. His slapshot isn't very good, and as noted neither is his passing ability. He checks good, and every now and then he steps forward and acts like a big forward (good, because he's good at that grunt forward type of thing; bad, because if he does it and it doesn't work, the other team practically has a full power play before he can get back to the defensive zone).

As I mentioned in another hockey thread, I went to the Kings-Ducks game last week. The Kings won in overtime because Simpson tried to skate a puck out on the right. He could have dumped it to the defensman on the left (I think it was Havelid, too, a much better puck-moving blueliner), but instead Simpson skated up on a forechecking Jozef Stumpel at the blueline instead and seemed to be trying to pass it forward to center ice. Instead, Stumpel poke-checked the poke away, got to it along the line, and fed a center-ice flying Joe Corvo, who blasted the winning score over Martin Gerber's shoulder before Gerbs likely knew that Simpson had turned the puck over.

And that was the fourth or fifth stupid turnover I saw Simpson make that night (although this was the only one that got the Kings a score).

I am extremely satisfied to see this guy gone and amazed we got a guy who seems able to put a point every two games for him (heck, this Russian winger is even relatively young at 24).

Ottawa loses a lot more in actual defensive skill and athleticism and speed than they make up for by adding Simpson's grit and savvy.

CR

Wow...Great Sens?leaf game....Sens score 13 seconds into the game.,..then go up 3-0...Leafs battle back to tie the game 4-4 with 5 minutes left.Then in OT Nolan scores on a 40 foot slapshot to win .Ottawa must be losing their collective minds right now.

How about the end of the Avs/Red Wings game? Two 4 minute minors in the final 1.6 seconds! I hope Yzerman is OK - that was painful to watch. A 5 on 3 in OT...you knew the Red Wings weren't going to let that opportunity get away.

I hate both of you

so - do I read that right? two seperate high-sticking double minors in the last 2 seconds? how does that happen?

Ya...how does that happen?

The first call appeared to be a BS call (they never did show a good shot of the high stick), then on the face off to get the game to OT, Adam Foote hit Yzerman squarely in the face. It didn't appear to be intentional, since he tried to help him as he went down, but it looked brutal.

lovely triple whammy - my Avs lose...to the Wings...and they injure the one Wing I have on both my fantasy teams...

Both calls were correct. The only bullshit aspect of the first call was that it was Kariya, and not Konowalchuk, who highsticked Draper. That and I think the linesmen called it. Kariya drew blood though. That's an automatic 4 minutes. Nothing BS about that.

The call on Foote was definitely the right one. Yzerman lost a tooth, got 8 stitches, and had some other teeth damaged. Oh yeah, blood was drawn. Another 4 minutes.

It was good to see. Class act by Avs fans (those on this board excluded of course, because they are cool despite the fact they support the Forces of Darkness), they once again as always show thier true colors.

Yee-ha, go Wings :D

I only said that because on the DirecTV feed, which I think was the Avs broadcast crew, they kept showing replays that showed nothing. By the time the game ended and DirecTV signed off, I still hadn't seen anything that looked like a penalty.

Doesn't matter though...they called it and we won!

Amen to that, my brother!

I must admit, I am only going off what I read from the Detroit and Colorado papers (good to get both sides). I cannot watch the game. I am in Belgium. This makes H_B sad and unhappy. :(

Chief's summary of Simpson was quite accurate. He's rugged, a hard worker, well-like by both teammates and fans, but he's at best a #5 or 6 defenceman. He's definitely not the answer to Ottawa's problems.

That Leafs/Sens game was... interesting.

If you only saw the highlights or the boxscore, you missed the real story: both teams were hit so badly by the flu that there were barely enough players left to finish the game. Players were going back and forth the dressing room to.. um... well, not for equipment problems. It was especially bad on the Ottawa side.

Which was nice, because for once the Sens were shitting themselves and it didn't have anything to do with Tie Domi.

Back to the theme of fixing the NHL...
I gotta agree with Roenick with making the nets bigger. That will help a lot if they also widen the ice surface and get rid of the space behind the nets. Then we will be back to high flying 80's hockey.

A bigger net just doesn't feel right. The goalie pads, maybe, that might be an ok change. I agree with Luongo (and many others): call the holding penalties so people go away from doing it, then the game will speed up. If you do that, it negates the trap which is what slows the game down most. I'm not sure why the 2 minute penalty is met with such wide appeal but it always is whenever it comes up- I'm basically indifferent to that.

SI

Make it illegal to hold another player for any reason. Call it every time.

Might as well just reduce the number of players to 4 a side :)

I understand what you guys are saying, but I just don't see the NHL letting the game fall into an endless parade of penalties while the players get re-accustomed to how the game should be played, or worse yet, have the refs call it through the regular season, only to see it disappear in the playoffs. Bigger nets are easy to implement, don’t require interpretation from the refs, and are the same size in the 1^st period as they are in the 3^rd. It doesn’t fix the problem of holding, but it at least brings some offence back into the game.

Bigger ice surface.It really is the most unobtrusive change that can be made.IMHO>

I say get rid of the rule against the 2-line pass...

I have no problem with bigger nets, but if you want to get rid of the "clutching and grabbing", get rid of it. I'll bet it wouldn't take too long at all.

While we're on the subject, I think they should make the powerplay last the full 2 minutes. It would be an easy way to chip in 40-50 more goals per year.

I suspect this would lead to more diving, and possibly even less penalties called, as refs are already loathe to call penalties in certain situations.

but, more importantly, this might inflate the scores, but it wont make the games that much more exciting for me. The powerplay isn't usually the most exciting part of hockey.

gotta love that Bobby Clarke guy...

gives up a good prospect and two picks to get Mike Comrie...and trades him 2 months later for Sean Burke. Why did he need to trade for Sean Burke? Because he'd already run Brian Boucher and Roman Checmanek out of town to go with Robert Esche and Jeff Hackett (who retired today).

then he trades Eric Weinrich to St Louis for a draft pick. and why did he trade Weinrich? because he has a glut of defensemen...this coming just 2 weeks after the knee-jerk reaction trade of Justin Williams for Danny Markov because they were desperate for defensemen.

Do Flyers fans think this man is sane? I mean, lately he's been making Mike Milbury look like Pierre Lacroix

Well...at least Clarke finally fixed the problem correctly by getting Burke...instead of stop gaping it again.

he's 37. how permanent of a fix do you think he is? :D

I've never been a big Burke fan - he's only had 4 winning seasons in his career, and in two of those he played in 13 and 22 games respectively. I think Phoenix did extremely well to get Comrie for him.

I like Burke a hell of a lot more than i liked Esche or Hackett.I think Comrie was a steep price to pay,but really,what other choice did he have?Mind you...he painted himself into this corner so he hasno one else to blame but himself.He could have had Cujo or Richter a few years ago,but he cheaped out.

bah the NHL blows. well that is until the playoffs, cause thats when i start watchin

Great. Thanks for coming out. :rolleyes:

LOL

:) anytime!!! oh, as long as its playoffs ;)

I totally missed this Danny Markov trade. Freakin' Belgium. Burke is definitely an upgrade, especially given Jeff "Scottie" Hackett's retirement. Comrie didn't seem to mesh in Philly. Though he had sat out for a while, so I am sure he would come around. Philly also got two prospects, they I have no idea who they are or what type of potential they have.

At least Burke is traded. The "where will Sean Burke go" stories have been going on and on and on for the last two or three years. I'm glad it's done.

*grabs leather pouch full of pingpong balls*

LIGHTNING BOLT!
LIGHTNING BOLT!
LIGHTNING BOLT!
sleep!
LIGHTNING BOLT!
LIGHTNING BOLT!
LIGHTNING BOLT!

lmao. hahahaha sleep

Yikes.

You can't cast that many lightning bolts!

I have a wand. I have a wand of lightning bolts with unlimited charges. No casting time. Just simply point and...

LIGHTNING BOLT!
LIGHTNING BOLT!
LIGHTNING BOLT!

oh...ok then. carry on.

Will do.

Hasek's out for the season.

You know what, this may be a blessing in disguise. You know that as the playoffs would draw closer, there would be another round of discussion/debate over who should be playing in net, and after every loss, you will hear arguments against the losing goalie, regardless of the situation. Cujo will be just as good if not better than Hasek would have been if he had come back from injury; lets not forget he was just beginning to get back to his playing form when he went down with the injury. It would take him a while to get back into shape and they still would be giving minutes to Cujo to keep him sharp just in case. At least now the situation is stabilized and Cujo and Legace will know where they stand heading into April.

Hmm... no posts about NHL rule changes?

- Goalies can no longer handle the puck behind the back-end red line (behind the net);

- The width of goalie pads will be reduced to 10 inches from the current limit of 12 inches; also, the league's head office will act as a clearing house for goalie's equipment before they can wear it;

- The nets will be brought back to 10 feet from the back boards from the current 13 feet;

- The tag-up offsides will be brought back;

- AHL will try out three points being awarded for a victory in regulation time with NHL possibly going to that format in 2005-06 if it works well in the minors; that would also include two points for an overtime win, it may also include two points for a penalty shootout win.

my beloved brodeur will continue to be a fantastic goalie...but this would severely hurt his game.

therefore, i am opposed to it.

just make the damn rink bigger. stop shrinking everything else.

My first reaction is that this is dumb...it's my second and third reaction as well. So, essentially, we want to encourage the dump and chase?



definitely a good idea. I swear, Dwayne Roloson looked like a tank at the all-star game. I still have to chuckle that Patrick Roy recommended this idea...



moving the nets up never had the impact they thought it would, and now that Gretzky's retiring and Forsberg's days are numbered, no one needs that space back there anyway.



I don't know what this is - can someone fill me in?



no, please no. this is a TERRIBLE idea. I wish they'd stop fucking around with the point system. The stupid point for overtime losses is dumb enough. I don't even want to think about a shootout.

A delayed offside where if the offensive team retreats from the zone, the offside is cancelled and they can go back in to forecheck.

No, most definitely not. We gave up on that issue a long time ago. Now it's kind of a science experiment about the effects of insane people running a hockey team, except we're the experimental group, not the control group.

Mike Comrie was obviously unsuited to play in Philadelphia. The question is not so much why did we trade him to Phoenix, but why did we trade for him in the first place? (That Clarkie is obsessed with centers is, while correct, not a valid answer. You must be more creative than that.)

And also, we were really hurting for future 5th round draft picks, which is why we traded Weinrich. That should be obvious. :cool:

I'd just like them to put goalies on par with everyone else outside the crease. If they're inside the crease, they're still the protected goalie and you shouldn't mess with them. But if they want to go chasing the puck down, they're fair game. If you're the keeper and you're out far enough that you have to worry about being taken down and not being able to get back, then you probably shouldn't go out that far. I'm sure you'll get your ass beaten in on the other side of the ice with the refs conveniently not watching after you take out the goalie which will cut down on the cheap shots but this should cut out on the egregious net leaving.

SI

I think goalies should still be alowed to handle the puck...i just don't think they should be able to make a forward pass...unless their team is on the PP.

As far as reverting to dump and chase, the dump and chase is an effective offensive strategy. It was used a lot in the 80's with great success. Remove the space from behind the net, and you remove the cycling behind the net that it creates, and as such the dump and chase becomes more alive as players make quicker passes into the slot or back to point, instead of freezing and cycling behind the net. Removing the goalies ablitity to stop the dump and chase removes the constant parade of dump, turnover, clear the zone, dump, turnover, ..., repeat for 58 of 60 mins. I think that is what the GM's are trying to do, although true to form, they only went at it half-assed (bigger nets or bigger ice surface would guarantee results).

No truth to the rumor that Clarke's looking to pick up Eric Weinrich from the Blues in exchange for Antero Niittymaki.

I heard he is willing to go as high as a 2nd round pick to get him back. :)

Regardless of the positives or negatives of doing this, one thing to remember is that, if the owners decide to do this, it will eliminate a row or two of the most expensive seats in the rink. Seeing as many teams live and die by their ticket revenues, this may not pick up enough steam to pass through.

Not to mention the costs with making the actual change.

If it costs each owner a million bucks to make the change to their arena, you can bet they'll look elsewhere. And some arenas physically can't accomodate bigger ice, because of the way they're built.

The NHL had it's chance to move to a bigger ice surface a few years ago when half the teams had new buildings on the way. They didn't do it. The opportunity is lost.

Leafs trade Rik Jackman to the Pens for Drake Berehowsky...who originally was a 1st round draft pick of the Leafs....funny how things work out.

We are still planning a parade:D

Hmm... when Berehowsky was first drafted, he was very popular with the female fans. Um... very popular.

Should be an interesting homecoming for him. If I were him, I'd start practicing the phrase "Um, yeah, of course I remember you..."

bingo. they blew it big time.

Aw crap. I just picked up Berehowsky on the fofc fantasy hockey waiver wire since I was in need of a 4th defenseman. Is this good news or bad news? He'd been getting decent points regularly (and lots of power play points) but, of course, on the Pens, his +/- was awful. Is he about to lose a lot of his power play time (and thus points)?

SI

I imagine this will help his +/- considerably...i can see him being on the 2nd PP unit for the Leafs.

Hahaha! Eddie Belfour is great. RE: Proposed Rule Changes:


Just offer them 1 billion dollars, Eddie and it will all go away. :D

That story is why Eddie is on of my favorite players ever. That and the 'hawks connection.

SI

Anybody watch the Oilers/Thrashers game tonight? If you didn't, check out the highlights. In the end, the Thrashers didn't have a choice but to play without a goalie, well, because they didn't have any left :D

Dola, we also got to find out just what kind of fighter Sutton is, when he turtles away from fighting Laraque, then ducks him again during the big melee, then grabs Brewer before Georges can find him. What a pansy.

The bit with Bishai in the Atlanta bench was great, as was the Conklin/Nurminen tussle. I'm curious if Conklin realized what getting Pasi to fight would mean for Atlanta, if so, head's up move Ty.

And Jackman was a first round pick of the Stars.

All I can say is DAMN!!! I was at the game last night, and when all Hell broke loose, every fan in the building was on their feet. It felt like a playoff game out there! The air was electric!

Fun game to be at, that is for sure!

You mean, "on their feet" so they could get up and leave the building, right?

I mean, hockey fans don't like fighting, right? Isn't that what the holier-than-thou types keep telling us?

Oh, of course...I would never cheer very loudly during hockey fights...laugh as players get beaten to the ice...

Nothing like that...

:D

tell that to the little guy sitting next to me at that Sabres game....

:)

Hey, it's Honolulu_Blue's birthday today! Happy Birthday!

which one?