Comments on: Finally, the finals

By: Rick Carpiniello

Rick Carpiniello — Fri, 29 May 2009 14:51:01 +0000

And some of those national spelling bee kids are smarter than some people in high places in the NHL.

Or here.

New post.

By: Joeybriggs

Joeybriggs — Fri, 29 May 2009 14:47:55 +0000

Hey Guys! I haven’t been on here in awhile…but I needed a place to go. I had a moment of hockey depression yesterday. I was watching the National Spelling Bee, and besides the fact that there were 45 children who could break down roots of a word and spell them better than I could, the thing that stuck out to be was, “OMG, the national spelling bee is on ESPN and the NHL isn’t.” There it is people: The NHL is now behind the NBA, NFL, MLB, MLS, and the national spelling bee…argh….

By: And this one will last a lifetime

And this one will last a lifetime — Fri, 29 May 2009 14:17:29 +0000

It wouldn’t suck, it would be justice for Hossa to switch sweaters and lose in the finals two years in a row when the same two teams square off.

Cally and Dubi are going nowhere. Girardi is not a third untouchable young budding star. He is an adequate competent 4/5/6 Def. on a team.

I agree with the opinions that playing back to back games, and 3 games in 4 days and 4 games in 6 days and 5 games in 8 days is a great schedule for the younger healthier hungrier Penguins. It was not as a conspiracy theory, it is just plain luck of the calendar to kick off the finals.
(Penguins in 6)

Does anyone have any idea where our greatest coach (Keenan) in our lifetime will end up ? I hope Torts hires him as his assistant.

By: Staal Wart

Staal Wart — Fri, 29 May 2009 13:33:02 +0000

I hate saying this but I think Pitt is gonna win it all this year. Detroit is hurtin on the back end and Cindi and Malkin are playing like they are hungry.
BTW How much would life suck for Hossa if he left Pitt last season to win a cup in Detroit only to have Pitt win it this season…?

By: tdchi

tdchi — Fri, 29 May 2009 12:22:33 +0000

DaveG – I urge you an everyone on this site to write the jack-ass who penned this article like I did and voice your discontent: drosen@nhl.com. The funny thing is, he draws the comparison, calls up Messier, and Messier basically says ‘there’s no comparing, especially to Gretzky.’ And he’s right…but not in Buttman’s league…THE FIX IS IN…

By: tdchi

tdchi — Fri, 29 May 2009 12:10:59 +0000

MikeA/UKRanger/Rob – Trust me, I’m not an advocate of moving any of those players. But the fact of the matter is, the combination of the three will equal roughly $6 million, and it’s unclear whether any of them will step up to become top-flight players, which is what this team needs. If there’s a chance you can draft a potential 100-point player who will be an answer to Ovechkin, Crosby, Malkin and Taveras; plus the move frees up enough cap space to draft a solid 40-goal scorer; do you hold onto the hometown heroes just for the sake of it? Those three guys are among my most favorite Rangers this century and it would kill me to see them moved. But I could understand the logic…Let’s face it though, there’s no way Redden can be moved, little way Gomez can be moved and only an infinitesimally small chance either Drury or Rozsival will be traded. That means cap nightmare coming up, especially if the cap goes down. So if you guys are right and Dubi/Cally only cost a combined $3 million, it won’t be that big of a deal. But if not, you better believe they’re going to be the top candidates to bring in the pieces Sather lacks…you’ve got to trade something for something, and the Rangers have a whole lot of nothing.

By: Dave G

Dave G — Fri, 29 May 2009 11:40:49 +0000

Anyone else furious that the NHL’s website has a side by side picture of Crosby and Malkin next to Messier and Gretzky? Jumping the gun a little aren’t we? Mess/Wayne = 10 combined cups…Cindy/Malkin = 0 cups (and it shall remain that way!)

LET’S GO WINGS!!!

By: MikeA

MikeA — Fri, 29 May 2009 11:11:17 +0000

Dubi and Cally are RFAs not UFAs so it’s not the same and both appear to be big parts of Torts system and plan in the future. He said some very nice things about both, and listening to Cally talk, he’s excited about next year HERE. Torts also said he wants to teach Dubi how to be a total professional.

The Rangers could have got more for Leetch but Korpi and if Sauer pans out, then it’s not too bad. Remember Toronto only had Leetch for a trade deadline then he left for Boston following the lockout.

As far as rooting for the team vs. players; you need a solid homegrown core to grow up together through good and bad. If you don’t have a consistent homegrown core and culture then that is a fundamental problem with the philosophy/management and a team will most of the time win nothing. Dubi/Caly/Staal/Girardi/Henrik/Korpi are part of this core. Let it be.

By: onecupin69years+

onecupin69years+ — Fri, 29 May 2009 10:21:32 +0000

Trades are a sensitive subject. Trades are usually made to make a team better.Some bloggers root for the player rather than the team,

Paul Mara for example, he’s a fan favorite ,but was two steps slower in the playoffs now, what about next year? I wouldn’t resign him.
You have to give something to get something in return,knowledge and luck are key factors in a trade, the rangers lack both. They traded leetch for nothing because they waited too long,and some fans wouldn’t have traded leetch at all.
Dubi and Calahan are free agents, right?They may take the money and run.Sign for less to play for team is a little foolhardy when you’re young, your career may end sooner than you think.Injury,illness diminished skills(Prucha)
Sometimes you have cut the ties.

By: UKRanger

UKRanger — Fri, 29 May 2009 10:20:08 +0000

Dubi and Cally are going nowhere – you’re looking at future C and A and if Slats has any sense he’ll sign them to 5+ year contracts. Girardi, Staal and Hank are also untouchable, the rest would be gone depending on the offer

Although they are due significant raises i don’t see either getting more than $1.5-2m per year unless someone jumps in with an offer sheet and we have to match it. Their effort levels and attitude are great but both have yet to put up big stats which could be used as a negotiating tool, and they are RFA’s so if Slats is confident of no forthcoming offer sheets he could sit there and let them take their annual raises and only cost $660 and $700k against the cap next year.

Take a player of similar age – Parise, 94pts this year and is a cap hit of $3.1m. Cally and Dubi scored less than half of his points. Getzlaf and Perry are of similar ages and earn over $5m per but scored 91 and 72 points respectively.

If i’m Slats i offer Cally and Dubi both 5 years at average $2m per, giving them a decent payrise for each year, more than they would get as an RFA or possibly through arbitration:
year 1: $1m
year 2: $1.5m
year 3: $2m
year 4: $2.5m
year 5: $3m